Patchwork Family
by CeriseAnouk
Summary: It started out as two, the ANBU and the little fox boy she was assigned to raise. One a mystery to those around her and the other hated for something he couldn't control. But soon others will find a place in their hearts for them. A family of outcasts.
1. the choosing of the fabric

**A/N: so, this is my new fanfic, thought i'd go in a different direction than hpp but they do have some slight similarties. i already have the next chapter partially written and about three or four of hpp chapters written the only problem is that they're all _hand _written and i really _really _don't want to have to type them. well i hope you like this first chapter.**

**Ceri**

**(and i do not own any of these charaters except for the ones i do)**

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Viper walked through the deserted halls fo the Hokage Tower. In order to understand the importance of this fact you must understand the difference between and ANBU's description of deserted and a lower ranking ninja's or civilian's description of the word.

Now, when the latter of the two describes the Tower as 'deserted', they mean that the building has a few ninja's either receiving missions or dropping off reports, the mission official themselves, the secretary, the Hokage's aids, and the many animal masked guards stationed at every entrance and random place, not to mention inside and out the Hokage's office.

When an ANBU describes the Tower as 'deserted', it means just that– deserted. There are no missions to be handed out because the Hokage made sure that nothing needed to be picked up or handed in, so there is no need for the officials th be there either. There are no council meetings or village issues that need his actual attention so there is no need for his secretary.

The Hokage's finished all his paper work so the aids are off and the animal masked guards are needed to protect the village and it's people– tonight is the third annual festival celebrating the fall of the Kyuubi.

When shinobi or even a civilian comes the Tower and it's deserted, it usually means that business is slow.

When an ANBU comes to the Tower and it's deserted it means one thing and one thing only: the meeting is personal, and usually hs to do with their lives without the mask.

Viper climbed the eight flights to the top floor of the Tower, where the Hokage's office was located, it's footsteps on the stone floor not even making a whisper of a sound. When the Tower is deserted the elevators are shut down.

It came to the wide double doors and opened them silently; the Hokage ws expecting it, there was no reason to knock.

The Third Hokage stared at the ANBU standing utterly silent before his desk, studying it through the haze of smoke he puffed out in the dim light of the desk lamp, the only source in the room.

When a ninja became an ANBU, regardless of its gender, it lost its name, its thoughts and its emotions. It became its mask, its number and a killing machine.

Some might argue that ll ninjas were killing machines which the Hokage, given the right argument, might agree on. But a normal ninja, be it gennin, chunnin, or jounin, has the right tho turn a mission down, can say no based on their own thoughts and feelings to an extent.

The ANBU members can't. They are told what to do and do it without protest. They could be told to go on suicide mission ad leave without looking bach or a word of goodbye. They could be told to attack an enemy nations ninja academy and kill all the students to ensure that they wouldn't be a future threat and they'd slit every one of those little throats with steady hands, dry eyes, and a calm stomach.

The ninjas in the village's take pride in being what they are and doing what they do, but what most don't tell you is that they all dread getting the ANBU calling card. No ninja decides they want to be an ANBU, they're chosen. You don't just walk up to the Hokage Tower, ask for a form and sign up. They send you an untraceable card that states that you have been picked and on some random day they break into your house, drug you, and take you to some unidentifiable are and you wake up in some undescript building.

ANBU trials are usually held once a year. They're too busy with guarding or assassinating people to stop what they're doing ever time some jounin or even chunnin (it's happened before) has caught their attention. So they usually make a list throughout the year, and only know where the trials will be and who the candidates are barely an hour before said trials start.

They prefer to use the word 'cautious' over 'paranoid' when describing themselves.

When the candidates wake up from their drug induced sleep they have a full head mask on that only reveals their eyes and a baggy jump suit that makes it almost impossible to tell if they are male or female.

On their back and chest is a number, and if they pass they become that number.

They are matched against each other; each winner then matched against another winner in their bracket until between three and ten contestant are left, then they are matched aganist actual ANBU. The contestants aren't expected to win, they just want to know how the candidates can hold their own against a member and just who much training they will have to endure if they pass.

Then, after the candidates have thoroughly gotten their asses handed to them, they are once again drugged and brought back home with no one none the wiser.

You don't know if you've been selected until you receive yet another card this time with an actual location on it, which you never reach because they usually get you while you're on the way there.

The candidates are then dressed in their former ensemble from the previous kidnaping and then submitted to 'training'. They are tortured, poisoned, mentally fucked with, starved, and broken again and again only to be put back together and have the process start all over.

If they survive that, (the numbers usually range from zero to three– the ANBU don't settle.) they are then trained in taijutsu, ninjutsu, genjutsu, they art of healing, the art of poisoning, and the art of tracking. Then, and only then, they are given their uniforms, their ANBU issued weapons, and their mask, which is based on the information gathered while watching them train and, if any, personality aspects that shine through or survived the extreme de-humanization that they go through.

The other members do not know who you are outside of your mask and number. They don't know your name, your family, how you live, your occupation– nothing. Only the Hokage and the ANBU higher-ups ( the man in charge and his subordinates– the ones that kidnap/ conduct the initial tests) know just who you are, and the latter never leave the hidden headquarters.

The ANBU headquarters are located underground and each member has their own 'room'. The room consists of a standard shower, an alcove where a sink and small mirror are located, another alcove where multiple uniforms hang, a built-in cabinet for the issued weapons and a floor length built-in medical cabinet for all their injured needs. The rooms are narrow and long, fitting only one person and have a chakra locked door, allowing only the user to enter.

They way to get in and out of the room without revealing your true identity is that each room has a fixture built into it that will only allow the ninja with that specific chakra signature to 'poof' in and out.

They say that once you become an ANBU, you never truly stop.

Viper was small; barely five-foot-five and had a slender, lithe body made up of delicate bones and lean muscles. It's physique was deceiving.

Viper was one of their more... violent and brutal ANBU. Its taijutsu was flawless, in ninjutsu deadly and its ganjutsu infallible. Its movements flowed like water and its body bent like the wind blowing through long grass, hypnotizing and mesmerizing those who watched like its namesake.

"Sit, and remove your hood and mask." the Hokage ordered, his voice rough and scratchy from years of puffing away at a pipe.

Viper did as ordered without hesitation.

Now before the Hokage sat a young girl of fifteen who had the white hair and red eyes and fair skin of an albino. Just below each of her large, almond shaped eyes was one lavender dot and another at each beginning of her pale almost none existent eyebrows. She hd full pink lips and ong thick lashes. Looks most definitely could be deceiving.

"Chizuru," he said in greeting.

The girl now known as Chizuru gave him a soft, warm smile.

"Hokage-sama."

It was like a switch had been flipped and the little girl he had wtched grow from the little waif that was left outside the village gates eleven years ago was back before him. Her shoulders were relaxed as well as her posture and she had a contented look in her bloody eyes. He could understand Asuma's attraction to Kurinea...

Mentally giving himself a shake, the Third let out a stream of smoke.

"Chizuru, you've been an ANBU now for two years, yes?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi looked at her closely for signs fo strain; she was, after all, only fifteen and in his mind just a tad young for the ANBU. But Hatake Kakashi was doing fine and he'd been in it for going on four years. Not that that didn't stop him from worrying; even though it was expected of the children of this village to become the next generation of ninjas he still believed they deserved to keep some of their innocence until they were older.

Chizuru's psych. Tests, which all ANBU had to take every six weeks, all came back with scores in the rang of sane. The nin in charge of monitoring ANBU civilian lives wre reporting that she was sleeping less, stating that she spent most of her nights wandering the village, just walking around. They reported that her eating habits had changed as well. The Third hoped that the decision he had made would br the right one.

"Chizuru, I'm going to take you off active duty." the Third so no reason in beating around the bush on the subject.

The girl blinked up at him, surprised.

"... What, Hokage-sama?"

The old man leaned tiredly back in his chair and not for the first time in three years wished the Fourth was still alive to make these sorts of decisions.

Of course, if the Fourth _was_ alive this particular decision wouldn't have had to be made.

"I've decided to take you off active ANBU duty," he repeated, "and give you a long in-village assignment instead."

Chizuru looked down at her hands, "H-hai, Hokage-sama."

Sarutobi couldn't help but hear the dejection in her soft voice.

"Your assignment is to care for and raise this boy." said, sliding a scroll across the wide desk to her.

He watched her reaction as she broke the seal and read it, hoping to catch any sign of her emotions on the mission.

Chizuru blinked then looked up at him, surprise in her eyes.

"You want me to raise Naruto?" she asked, the fact that he was the Kyuubi container didn't need to be said.

"Yes, you will be given an apartment and a monthly allowance, though you will need to have a plausible cover story."

The red eyed girl bit her lip in thought, showing more emotion that was common for an off-duty ANBU.

"A chunnin adopting him is more plausible. Maybe a medic-nin or a teacher, something stationary so I'll be near him the majority of the time instead of leaving him alone while I'm on lengthy missions," she narrowed her eyes in concentration, "both the hospital and academy have in-building daycare so I can check on him anytime."

Sarutobi suppressed a smile as she worked it all out, unconsciously accepting the mission. She hadn't even made a fuss about Naruto being the Kyuubi vessel.

"When he's older you will be taking the occasional ANBU mission seeing as you're only being taken off active duty, you can be called on when needed."

Chizuru nodded absently, still going over the cover story and debating the pros and cons of both occupations in her head.

"Do you accept this mission?" the Hokage asked.

That question made Chizuru jerk her head up and give him her full attention. ANBU weren't given choices.

"If Naruto can't be raised with the proper care every child should have, then I would rather you decline now," he explained, "Though I do believe you're the best choice for this assignment."

The young girl, for a girl she still was, looked down at her hands once again, thinking it over.

Could she really give him the love and acceptance he needed to grow up happy? Could she be a parent? She couldn't even remember the parents that had abandoned her at the gates of some unknown village. Could she raise this little boy? She was only fifteen, she was still raising _herself_. She understood that many ninja tended to start families young because of the high death rate but was fifteen a bit too young to be called 'Mommy'? The ANBU didn't think fourteen was too young to start recruiting.

The two of them sat there for some time in silence before Chizuru slowly raised her head, determination burning in her red, red eyes.

"I accept."

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so, whata'ya think, huh, huh? like it, love it, hate it, review it. (please?) 


	2. the first stitches

**A/N: SO this is chapter two, hopfully it's better than chapter one which i wasnt completely happy with. made a minor mistake in chapter one with the color of her facial dots there supposed to be red, i, just too lazy to fix it****. next chapter or the chapter after that will be the meeting of Iruka and the addition of another patch to this unique family.**

**Ceri**

**i dont own naruto.**

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The next morning Chizuru sat across from the Hokage in her civilian garb, the ANBU stationed behind the old man gave her unseen curious looks. Chizuru could understand them. She sat, a girls no more than fifteen, wearing a long, loose lavender shirt that came down to mid-thigh and hung off of both her narrow shoulders, the long sleeves covering all but the tips fo her fingers.

Under that she wore a fishnet shirt that covered what the thin lavender shirt did not, the neck line disappearing under the hite-ate she hd tied around her slender neck. She wore black tight spandex pants that stopped just above her knees along with a dainty pair of lavender ninja sandals and her straight white hair hung loosely around her, down to just below her shoulders in a side part.

To the eyes fo the casual observer she didn't look capable enough to be a chunnin level ninja, let alone a mother.

It was seven in the morning, the village sleeping in after the festival last night. They were waiting for the lady who ran the orphanage to bring Naruto. On the Hokage's desk sat the adoption papers, just waiting for the said lady's signature to make them final.

There was a soft knock on the door and the Hokage's secretary peeked in.

"Hokage-sama, they're here."

"Thank you, send them in." Sarutobi sat up straighter and watched as a middle aged woman dragged the small blond three-year-old into the room, her hand tight around his little wrist.

Chizuru, who had turned at the first knock, took n his appearance:

He was dirty, but dirty in the way as though someone hd tried to scrub him clean just minutes ago. His clothes were old and worn; Chizuru knew that the orphanage got enough money to buy the children decent clothes. His sandals had holes and chunks missing out of them. Again, there was enough money. The little boy wore a ratty little backpack with what she assumed held his meager belongings, or at least what the orphanage let him keep.

His eyes held a child's fear until those big blue orbs landed on the Hokage and then they filled with a relief no child, let alone a three-year-old, should be able to express.

The woman gave a disregarding lance around the large room before dragging the poor boy cross the marble floor, her impatient footsteps echoing loudly in the great room. Naruto stumbled along behind her trying to keep up.

She came to an abrupt stop before the Hokage's desk next to Chizuru's chair and gave him a brisk bow.

"Hokage-sama, I brought the– boy," here she had to pause and press her lips together and think of the right word, "as you requested."

Sarutobi just puffed away at his pipe. "These are the forms you need to sign." he gestured to the small stack.

"I'm sorry that we couldn't be here earlier," she said, briskly flipping to the next page, not even caring to even pretend to read the first, " he was being difficult." at this she jerked Naruto's had up, as though she thought they didn't know who she was talking about.

Chizuru watched as his little fingers turned blue from lack of circulation. She could practically see his small bones grinding together from the white-knuckled rip the woman held onto him with. His pained expression didn't escape her notice either.

"Let go of his had." she said softly, cutting the foul lady off in mid rant about something Naruto supposedly did.

Everyone turned to look at the white haired girl.

"Excuse me?" the woman said in an irritated and offended voice.

"Let go of his had," Chizuru repeated, turning her bloody eyes up to the lady's muddy brown ones, "You're hurting him."

The woman flinched at the eye contact and dropped the little wrist.

"Oh," she said in a dismissive tone, turning back to sign more of the papers. "Sorry" she opened her mouth to continue her rant when Chizuru interrupted her before she even started.

"I'm not the one you should be apologizing to."

"Oh," the woman said, turning on the girl sitting in the chair next to where she stood, "and just who should I be?" like she was going to let a _child_ three times younger than her talk down to her.

"Naruto." was her simple answer.

The air filled with tension as the two women stared each other down, one calm while the other's face grew red and splotchy with anger.

Sarutobi looked back and forth between the two and let one corner of his mouth quirk up in a small smirk.

"I think that Chizuru is right." the Hokage said into the silence and was rewarded with one look of shock and another of satisfaction. "Naruto was the one injured, unintentional as it may be," at this a pair of red eyes rolled, "therefore he is the one who deserves to be apologized to."

The woman, if possible, turned even redder and Chizuru could almost hear her teeth grind together.

The lady turned abruptly, causing the little boy to flinch back, as though expecting a blow.

"I'm..._sorry_...Naruto." she ground out, clearly not meaning it.

Chizuru was glad she was taking the three year old home with her that day; she had a feeling that if that woman were to take him, he would end up with more that a bruised wrist.

"Do you accept her apology?" the Hokage asked.

Naruto had his shoulders scrunched up close t his head and was staring intently down at the floor, his little hands twisting in the ragged hem of his worn shirt. He looked like he wanted to be anywhere but in the room at that moment.

Hesitantly, and not looking at anyone in the office, Naruto gave a small nod.

The woman tore through the last pages of the adoption forms, the scritch-scratching of the pen on the paper conveying her anger. Then, with a bow to the Hokage, and a seething glare at Chizuru, she made her way to the large doors where she paused and turned back.

"I will be here tomorrow morning to pick up this months check, Hokage-sama." she stated with and air of dignity.

"That won't be necessary," at this the woman blinked in confusion, "Now that Naruto is no longer in your care, the orphanage no longer will be receiving his monthly allowance."

A fine tremble started to travel up and down her body and she managed a tight nod before she jerked one of the doors open and all but slammed it after her. Moments later they heard a muffled crash and a screech of rage.

Chizuru turned bach to the old man behind the desk.

"You let her run the orphanage?"

Sarutobi let out a stream of smoke that managed to express his exasperation.

Not waiting for an answer, Chizuru slid off her chir and to her knees in front of the scared little boy.

"Hello, Naruto," she said softly with a smile, "My name's Chizuru, and I adopted you."

The small child blinked uncertainly, twisting the hem of his shirt tighter.

"Arw you my Mommy?" he asked just as softly, hope shining in his big, bright blue eyes that showed every one of the hurts he had suffered.

"If you want me to be." With that Chizuru reached out to grasp the brightly wrapped box that she had placed under her chair when she had first arrived.

"I heard that yesterday was your birthday." she said, sliding the cheerful orange package across the marble floor so that it was in front of the shocked boy.

The look of disbelieving awe on the boy sent a twinge of pain to Chizuru's heart and regret to Sarutobi's.

"It's... _mwine?_" Naruto asked, hoping beyond hop in his little heart that this wasn't a cruel joke.

The pretty lady before him gave him a soft smile and an encouraging nod.

The four adults in the room watched as the boy licked his lips and rubbed his grubby hands on his dirty shorts, his eyes never leaving the cheerful package. The three men were curious as to what the boy had gotten.

Carefully, ever so carefully, Naruto tugged on one of the bright green tails of the silk bow wrapped around the orange box, as though it might shatter any second like fragile glass into thousands of pieces.

Setting the ribbon aside gently, he began the delicate task of untaping the shiny paper without tarring it. Folding it with the minimal amount of crinkling possible, he set that aside and slowly remove the white boxes top, revealing the green tissue paper inside. Carefully parting the green folds, the boy let out a surprised gasp, his blue eyes growing wide, he shot Chizuru a disbelieving look before he reached in and pulled out a frog plushy, its long thin legs and arms and big head and body almost the same side. He held it away from himself, just staring at it.

"There's more." Chizuru said, excited for him to see the other present as well.

Naruto blinked in shock, there was _more?_

Reaching back into the box and digging through the tissue paper, his excitement making him forget to be careful, until his arms disappeared up to his little elbow. Grasping on to what ever was at the bottom, he pulled them back out, revealing an red-orange fox plushy.

"I saw those and thought you might like them." Chizuru said, feeling a little anxious that he might not like them.

Naruto looked at her in shock, his eyes starting to water before he berried his face in the dolls' soft fuzziness.

"Do you like them?" she asked.

Naruto silently nodded.

* * *

While Chizuru got the keys and directions to their new apartment, the ANBU watched silently as the Kyuubi vessel carefully put the orange wrapping paper, green ribbon, tissue paper, and the now broken down box in his ratty backpack before looking critically at his two first presents before putting the large frog into his pack as well, zipping it up so only its large green head stuck out. They watched him put the pack on and hold the fox plushy in his arms while waiting patiently for his new mommy to finish talking with the old man. 

"And this is a list of stores that will allow him in." Sarutobi said finally, handing Chizuru a piece of paper with a list of a few names of village stores. She gave it a quick scan, not surprised when she found the majority on the list happened to be ninja based ones. Most Shinobi tended to look at Naruto indifferently.

Folding the paper and tucking it into a pocket, Chizuru turned to the silent boy.

"Are you ready to go?"

He nodded, face showing his shocked surprise when she picked him up. No one willingly touched him.

She walked over to one of the wide open widows.

"Hove you ever jumped from building to building before?" she asked.

The little blond shook his head in the negative.

"Oh really?" she asked turning back to Sarutobi.

"Hokage-sama." she said with a slight tilt of the head before launching herself out the window.

The last thing the three heard was the squeal of a child's excited laughter.

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i know know, slow goings but this story is basically a rewrite of the origional. he will have the same team and stuff and go through the same issues just...differently. **PLEASE I BEG YOU REVIEWWWWW!** it makes me warm and fuzzy inside. n.n 


	3. a deer patterned piece

**A/N: ok, so i'v updated both my main stories today, this chapter is sort of pointless, though it marks Naruto's first friend. from now on its not going to go on a day-to-day sort of story but weeks and months are going to pass in each chapter of the story line so it wont be so boring only goin bck to this way when he's older and the the real Naruto story starts.**

**well hope you like it **

**Ceri**

**i dont own.**

* * *

Chizuru glanced down at the boy clinging to her, an arm around her neck while the other clutched his fox plushy to his chest as he faced forward, his blue eyes trying to catch sight of everything as it passed by them and the wind mussed his already wild blond hair. But those weren't the things that made her heart swell with the beginnings of love and the stirring of pride.

It was the joyous smile he wore on his face that had only conveyed his fear before and the carefree laughter he would let loose every time they vaulted over the wider gaps between the taller building that framed the streets instead of the alleyways as he looked down at all the people passing below them.

Fearless.

Her boy, her _son_ was fearless. He didn't cling to her while crying for fear of falling no he barely held on, his grip loosening by the minute leaving her to clutch tighter to him as they bound over the rooftops of the large village. She could tell he had run before he could walk and if she didn't watch him closely he'd be leaping out the window before he'd even learned who land. Chizuru felt a wide smile stretch her cheeks. She couldn't wait for him to show the world what Uzumaki Naruto could do.

They had finally reached her desired destination, touching down on one final rooftop before preforming a flip from the top of the building to land on the street below, little Naruto laughing all the way.

"Alright," she said, standing up from her crouch, "I think we should buy you some new clothes." Chizuru poked him playfully on the nose.

Naruto giggled again, scrunching up his nose while looking wildly around. This was his first time outside the orphanages grounds, and the prospect of getting _more_ stuff was overwhelming; in a way it was like giving pixie sticks to kid already on a sugar high.

Chizuru pointedly ignored the looks the civilians were flashing them, ranging from shock to scandalous to out right disgust; paid no attention to the way people practically leapt out of the way when they came too close to brushing up against them. Naruto didn't notice them so there was no reason to react. She ignored the whispers as she entered one of the clothing stores she had memorized from the list Sarutobi had given her.

Bells chimed as she opened the door to the building, bringing and elderly from the back.

"Ahh," he said in and old, weathered voice, "Hokage-sama said to be expecting you."

Chizuru studied the man. His pasture was relaxed and she didn't feel any animosity coming from him. She looked into his fading gray eyes. There was no contempt there. She smiled.

"We're here to pick up some clothes for him." Chizuru said in her soft voice, bouncing Naruto on her hip playfully.

"Well look around and take your time, feel free to ask any questions you need answered." he said with a smile before walking back into the back room.

Chizuru set the little boy down, his small hand grasped in her larger one as he looked around in awe.

The clothes ranged from every day civilian clothes to full blown ninja armor.

"This way, Naruto." she said, gently leading him over to the civilians children section, letting go of his hand one they reached it.

Chizuru watched silently as he walked off towards one of the lowered racks filled little boy pants and smiled softly when he reached out to touch a pair only to jerk his hand back and look at her guiltily.

"Go on," she said, "you won't be able to pick out what you want unless you touch them."

Naruto's eyes widened.

"I can pwick out what I want?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Um-hm, that's why were here."

He was hesitant at first, only touching, never pulling anything off the rack but gradually he got bolder until he knew she wouldn't get mad at him and finally picking out clothes he liked, Chizuru joining in.

"How bout this?" she asked, holing up a frilly girls shit.

"Noo!" he laughed, his hands covering his smiling mouth.

Chizuru found that he didn't like any of the civilian boy's pants, saying they were itchy and uncomfortable when she asked why, though he did take a liking to some of the T-shirts made out of the looser, more mobile materials. If that didn't scream ninja-to-be she didn't know what did.

She had finally led him over the little ninja's section and was eyeing a double layered shirt with a light wire mesh in between the two sweat and rain resistant fabrics when he running over, making it look more like a waddle.

"I want dis." he said, holding up his find proudly with his chubby little arms, a wide smile stretching the tiny whisker marks on his cheeks.

The first coherent thought that came to her mind was that it was orange. The second was that it was made of some sort of fuzzy yarn while the rolled back cuffs, inside of the hood, the two pockets on either side of toggles that held it closed and the bottom two inches of the hem were a darker slightly less fuzzy material.

Chizuru vaguely wondered if he got it from te girls' section.

One look at his happy face yanked the no that was about to crawl out her mouth back down her throat and put it in a sleeper hold just in case it tried to climb back up.

"Sure, you can pick out anything you want." with that he disappeared into the jungle of ninja clothes.

Chizuru decided now was as good a time as any to get back in touch with God.

_'Kami,_ she prayed, _' I know I haven't really talked to you in, well, never- but I _swear _I will light incense everyday I'm in Konaho if you make it so he doesn't pick anything neon green, various shades of pin, hot red or electric blue for the rest of his life.'_

When Naruto came carrying a few pairs of ninja short pants (like Kiba's ) in various shades of black, navy, dark green and brown she rolled her eyes to the ceiling with a silent, _'Great doing business with you,'_ before leading him to the sandal section.

Finally, after picking out a pair of orange sandals- and mentally berating herself for not adding the color to the list on the agreement- Chizuru took the eight pairs of short pants, three pairs of shorts, the twelve T-shirts in numerous colors and designs, a couple packs of boys' thighty-whities and that fuzzy orange pull-over to the old man that had popped up behind the cash register. Chizuru silently wonder why they just didn't recruit these guys to be ninjas, they were just as good at stealth as any ninja she knew.

"Leisure or business?" the old man asked.

"Business."

He nodded with a smile and pulled out the plastic bags. The difference between the two was that the leisure bags stayed open at the top and were made of thin plastic while the business bags sealed at the top and were made of stronger more durable plastic for the ninja's way of travel.

After paying with the money the Hokage had given her, though being in ANBU paid just fine, she led a smiling Naruto out the door and down the street by the hand; ignoring the people once again and glaring down the bolder ones who made a move to make a scene while listening and commenting on Naruto's endless chatter.

With a final stop at the weapons shop for practice kunai and shuriken they made their way to their new apartment, Naruto giggling all the way as they hopped across town.

The building was nice, not the nicest, but nice. What Chizuru thought was best about it though was that fact that the majority of the tenant were ninjas. Which meant security was better here than at a normal complex, due to paranoia. Which meant that the majority would only feel indifferent about the little fox container because they were ninjas.

Ninjas she didn't have to feel slightly guilty for beating up if they weren't indifferent towards Naruto because they were ninjas, and ninja's can fight back. It felt too much like pushing down a two year old if she had to beat up a civilian, hence the slight guilt.

Living in a shinobi complex meant that almost all the stairs squeaked, the elevator made loud noises when in use, each door had at least three locks, the inside walls were non-stick, mailboxes had blood activated seals as well as were wallpapered with exploding tags, and bathrooms were booby trapped.

Nothing left a ninja (be it male or female) feeling more paranoid than an unguarded bathroom.

Chizuru led Naruto to the elevator and let him press the button for the top floor. Once they got out of the clanking and screeching box of death, which Chizuru dubbed it after spending the whole ride up eight stories praying to any God listening to "please don't let me die, I'm still a virgin," over and over, while blond ball of energy named Naruto thought the ride was fun.

Once she was pretty sure she wouldn't throw up, she vowed they'd be taking the stairs in the future.

When Chizuru opened the door, she was glad that they were on the top floor. Top floor meant that their ceiling was also the buildings roof, and they would hear the muffled noise of ninja traffic so top rooms were often cheaper.

It was long and narrow, but not large. It was... cozy. It had an open living room with a large window that curved around the outside walls corner with the shape of the building in an arch with medium sized squares of checkerboard glass. The walls were painted a nice, soothing olive green with a brownish-red trim and the floors were wood.

There was an open kitchen the only thing separating it from the living room were a row of floor cabinets that also served as a bar (if the low backed stools were any indication) and a row of hanging cabinets, both of which made a ninety-degree turn to form a boarder along the hallway until the ran into the kitchen wall. These helped to box off the living room making it look more square instead of rectangular like the room was.

Each of the two outside walls had one large checkerboard window filling the room with natural light, one running into the inner wall. Chizuru mentally noted that it would be a perfect place for plants. The wall that the apartment door was on was uneven; while the part it sat on to the right ran all the way into the kitchen wall, about two feet to the left it jutted out about two feet before ran into the outside wall making it so while you were standing on the lower tiled entrance where the shoes went, you only really had a clear view of the kitchen, which was only a few feet away, partial view of the hall and the majority of the living room.

The apartment came fully furnished, complements of the Hokage, and Chizuru was thankful for that. Trough the glass of the kitchen cabinets she could see stacks of bowls and plates and cups in various colors, and she assumed that the drawers had all the other utensils they'd need.

Running parallel with the bar was a narrow kitchen table that had fold down leafs to make it bigger for company, what company Chizuru didn't know, but thought it nice anyways. Separating what was the dinning room from what was the living room was a soft looking orangish-brown love seat with fat red-brown pillows on it, it sat adjacent to the outside wall across from them. Only a couple steps away and si Sitting in the curved window as if it was made to be there was a curved light rust-red love seat. Running along the far wall of the little couch area was a low, narrow rectangular table, for what Chizuru didn't know but she was sure they would figure it out as they went.

Sitting at an angle so that it was in view of both the couches was an average sized T.V. and jutting out of the wall right next to it, though how she missed it she didn't know, was a roughed iron spiral stare case for one disappearing up into the ceiling.

Scanning the room one last time Chizuru looked down at the little boy next to her to find him staring patiently up at her with a look that said, 'ok, can we go look now?'

She sighed and nodded saying, "Go on."

The kid was off like a flash, having kicked off his worn sandals at some point while she was surveying the room. He ran around giggling and touching everything; jumping on both couches, sitting in every chair, opening all the drawers and cabinets he could reach before shooting off down the hall, his laughter echoing behind him.

Chizuru followed at a more sedate pace, first setting both their shoes aside neatly before venturing further into the room and setting the many bags down on the orangish couch before going after Naruto down the hall.

She found another door along the way that led to a small tiled bathroom, complete with the shower with its little stool on one tiled wall, the deep tub on the adjacent wall and a door leading to the toilet sink room.

At the end of the hall, where she could her the sound of little feet jumping on a mattress, was a single door that was half open, the light from the smaller matching hall window shining warm sun rays off its wood.

Pushing it fully open she saw a good sized room and two dressers, a closet, and a previously made bed with a monkey (Naruto) jumping on it, grinning like an insane man. On further inspection Chizuru was surprised to find yet another bathroom, small like the last one, but the toilet room wasn't connected and had much more counter space. Usually families all shared one bathroom.

Hearing a high pitched war cry She spun catching her little ball of energy in mid attack, laughing as he yelled 'hiya's and more battle noises while mock kicking and punching her.

"Ne, Naruto–"

"I'm not Nawuto, I'm the Hokage and _you'w_ the bad Ninja." he said, punctuating it with another 'hiya!'

"Okay Hokage-sama, lets go check out where those stairs go."

Chizuru was surprised to see another bedroom up there, just a tad smaller than the other one, already decorated for a little boy. She was surprised to see a that the arched window led to a rusty balcony, just like the numerous other ones around the village.

'_Better seal that till he's older_.' trying to explain how Naruto went splat to the Hokage was _not _something she wanted to do anytime soon.

The two had a fun time putting all his new things away before having dinner and sending

the tuckered out boy up to bed.

Over the next couple days Chizuru and Naruto generally stayed to the apartment or shopping district buying what little they needed, and some things they didn't, for their new home.

"What's that?" Naruto asked, pointing at something as they were walking back to the complex; there was too much for them to carry for Chizuru to jump them back.

Chizuru turned to see what had caught the boys attention. In the fading light of day she saw the deserted jungle-jim, swing and other playthings of the Konaho park.

"The park?" she said looking down at the curious boy.

Naruto scrunched up his brows and pouted, blue eyes filled with confusion at the word he didn't know.

"Parwk?" he asked.

"Yes, park. It's a place to play in when your outside."

At the mention of the word play, which he had refamiliarized himself with after she adopted him, the little blond got excited.

"Can we go now?" he asked eagerly.

"No, we've got to bring these things home." she said, shaking the bags in her arms.

At his downcast look she felt a twinge in her heart for denying him. Stopping she crouched down before him.

"Hey," she said softly looking in his big sad eyes, "how 'bout this: if it's not raining tomorrow, and you help me put all this stuff away, we'll go all day."

"All day?" he asked, hopeful.

"All day." she smiled.

Before she knew what was happening Naruto had launched himself at her, wrapping his chubby baby arms around her neck with a giggle.

"I love you Kaa-chan." he said.

Chizuru froze. He called her Kaa-chan. He'd told her he'd loved her, neither of which he had ever done.

Squeezing her eyes shut as she felt her heart constrict, she slowly wrapped her arms around her boy.

"I love you too, Naruto.

The next day the sun was shining brightly in the clear blue sky as Chizuru waited for Naruto to come flying down the slide and into her arms, big cheesy smile on her face.

Bracing herself as he shot down the metal slide and into her arms, she spun him around in a circle.

"You did it!" she laughed, surprising herself with the pride she was feeling at her boys first trip down the slide. She looked up as his smiling face as he held his arms out, his joyous laughter echoing out on the open playground as they continued to spin.

"I did it, I did it!" he cheered for himself as the slowed to a stop.

"Oh, you did so good my Little Naru." she said tickling him in her arms.

Just then, out of the corner of her eye, Chizuru saw one of the civilian fathers pull away from the group who had been huddled, watching them with angry and scandalized looks.

The phrase _oh shit_ flitted through her mind for all of two seconds before she put Naruto on the ground and said, "Why don't you go play in the sand box for a sec and I'll be over in a moment." she told him, not even noticing the lazy half asleep boy already occupying the box.

"Okay," he said not even looking back as he ran off.

Hearing the angry footsteps getting closer, Chizuru spun to face the threat, feeling her ANBU training kick in.

The man was a good six inches taller than her and used it to tower over her in what she supposed was an intimidating way. Mentally snorting, Chizuru tilted her head back to look up at the man's angry face.

He had mussed brown hair just starting to get peppered with gray, the beginnings of what would be deep crows feet, morning fuzz along the lower half of his face, a scowl, pissed off brown eyes, and just a hint of a pouch.

He, clearly, wasn't a ninja.

"Can I help you?" Chizuru said blandly, tone much different from her normal soft one.

"Where do you get off bringing _that _here?" he growled at her.

Chizuru cocked one of her almost non-existent brows up in the air. So he was a straight forward man.

"Bringing what, Civilian-san, it's just me and my son." still in the same bored tone.

If possible, the mans scowl grew deeper. Tack on frown lines to his features for the near future.

"That boy, that _thing_," he said, now pointing at the oblivious blond who now had the lazy dark haired kid engaged half heartedly in building what looked vaguely like a sand castle.

She felt her eyes go dead at the comparison of Naruto to a thing. She looked behind the man at his group of buddies who had smug looks on their faces while they watched their friend try and tell her off. Chizuru narrowed her eyes before turning back.

"That _thing_, you put it, is my son, and he has every right to be here as any other child." she crossed her arms.

"No, he doesn't. He's a monster."

Chizuru felt everything inside her go still and quiet.

"You better watch what you say, Civilian-san," she said sending him a sliver of the killer intent she was feeling his way, sending the man reeling back, "you don't want me to have to take this up with the Hokage, do you?" she asked once he had regained his footing, his eye filled with fear.

"You should go now, and I don't want to see any of you," at this she sent her killer intent at his friends, "around my boy again."

The man stumbled away, pushing his now shaking friends with him, grabbing their kids as they went.

Chizuru let out a tense breath, loosening up her tight muscles as she did so, calming her self before tuning to check on Naruto.

_Fuck_, she thought as she found him still in the sand box, but there was a ninja there as well. Hopefully he would treat him with the indifference that was expected of him. With a smile plastered on her face, Chizuru mad her way over to where her son was talking animatedly with the man.

"I'm herw with my mommy," she heard Naruto say, "this is my firwst time at a parwk."

"Naruto." she said in her soft voice, getting the attention of all three. She now saw that the man was the nameless boys father. She braced herself, ready to kick his ass if she had to.

Shikato looked at the young girl that had joined their group. Her smile said that she was harmless but her stance said otherwise. She didn't like trust him, nor did she like that he was virtually alone with the little blond boy. Which he could understand, all things considering.

"I'm Nara Shikato," he said in his smoky voice, "This is my son Shikamaru, he was just

wondering if your son could join us for dinner."

The two adults, well, one adult and one semi-adult, looked down at said boy and even Shikato found it hard to believe when he saw the lazy put-out expression his son was wearing, even if it was the truth.

The girl raised an eyebrow, only marked by one red dot going down while the other went up.

"Can we Kaa-chan, can we?" asked the little blond boy excitedly.

Shikato watched as she had an inner debate, before the decision was settled with one look at the pleading boy.

She sighed, "alright."

The kid raised his arms in the air with a cheer and Shikato could have sworn his saw the corners of his sons lips twitch up.

Shikato just looked at the girl with a nod, clearly reading the expression on her face that stated she'd kick his ass if he was lying.

He had the strangest feeling she could too.

Yoshino stared in awe at her sons new friend, not comprehending how such a thing could happen. The two were literally opposites.

While her boy wore all dark, none descript clothes, the other boy they had brought home had on a fuzzy orange pull over and when that had come off he was wearing an equally bright yellow shirt with a black spiral along with cute little short pants and orange sandals.

Uzumaki Naruto, as he had introduced himself to her, was a constant flow of words and smile, heck even his hair had more energy than her son.

And the girl he had claimed was his Kaa-chan was gorgeous, though she didn't understand how the Hokage could entrust such a big responsibility to such a young girl. Yoshino just itched to dress her up and do her hair and make-up. She always blamed Shikato for not giving her a girl.

After the meal had ended and Shikamaru had led a bouncing Naruto up to his room to play for a little while, Chizuru stayed behind to help.

"Really Chizuru, there's no need." Yoshino told her.

"It's no problem Yoshino-san, I want to help." the girl said with a soft smile.

"Please, it's just Yoshino, the -san makes me feel so old."

"Hai, Yoshino." she said going back for more dishes.

"Shikato told me what happened at the park today." Yoshino remarked watching as the girl froze for a moment.

"It must be hard taking care of him."

Chizuru shrugged as she set the plates down.

"Not really; once you've spent a few years taking care of yourself, taking care of a child isn't that much harder."

Yoshino made agreeing sounds, "You did the right thing, scaring them off, not making a scene in front of the kids."

"I wanted to hurt him." the girl said quietly.

Yoshino waited for her to continue, setting a now clean dish aside.

"I don't understand how this village can treat such a sweet little boy the way they do over something he had no control over. When that man called Naruto a thing and said that he had no right to be in the park, I just wanted to pummel him into the ground for even thinking such a thing."

"The villagers," Yoshino set another dish down, "and some of the ninja are too ignorant to understand such thing, and blame the only thing they have to blame for what happened. Naruto will show them some day that all their thoughts were wrong." she said turning off the water and facing the girl.

Chizuru flashed her a smile, "Hai, he's going to be the best ninja ever."

Laying and exhausted Naruto down on his bed and tucking him along wit his two plushies, Chizuru kissed him good night and got up to leave.

"Kaa-chan," Naruto said, "Shika's got a nice family, huh?"

"Yeah," she said remembering Yoshino's words, "He does."

"Kaa-chan?"

"Yes?"

"'love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

well, for those of you still awake, do you like it? review please. 


	4. scattered material

** A/N: Ahh. It's been a long time since I've updated anything. A REALLY long time. I'm just now getting back into my author groove after a long dry spell where my inspiration dried up. Eh, I blame it on Senioritus. But thanks to my schools' Young Authors Club, I've got oodles of inspiration bouncing around in my tiny little head. So here's an update! An albeit short update consisting of justa scoche over two thousand words but still, it's the effort that counts right? Right. In this glorious chappy, I introduce you to two new (as in to the story) characters, one of which is a constant in here while the other one mainly shows up sporadically for comic relief. So, now that I'm done wasting your time on with the story!**

**Ceri.**

* * *

Chizuru skidded around the corner of the stairwell, narrowly missing crashing into the wall and desperately trying to keep her balance as she held on tightly to the bundle that filled her arms, only pausing to regain it before sprinting down the next flight of stairs. Mentally she cursed the Hokage for getting them an apartment at the top of an eight-story building.

They were late.

For the last few months Chizuru had been working at the hospital, receiving training from one of the nurses there. Every morning she got up at five to get her and Naruto ready to go, making sure the three year old ate breakfast, brushed his teeth and put the right shoes on the right feet. The routine had taken some getting used to on both their parts; Naruto having someone who cared taking care of him, and Chizuru taking care of someone other than herself. The boy was adapting better than she had expected he would, being only three and having such a sever change in his life, but there was just one thing he _hadn't _gotten used to yet: The time.

Resituating the sleeping bundle in her arms, Chizuru skidded around another corner, leaping over the first three steps then continuing to bound down, the only response the little blond gave for the rough landing was to snuggle his face closer into the warm crook of her neck, leaving a hot trail of spit. He'd complained the first couple of days about having to take the stairs when there was a perfectly good elevator right down the hall, but Chizuru was adamant against using it. There was no way in hell she was getting back in that death trap again. With her luck the cable'd snap plunging her to her young, virgin doom.

Letting out a sigh of relief as she reached the fourth floor hall where the stairs switched to the other side of the building, she thanked God for straight-aways. She was half way through the narrow hall (another thing about Shinobi complexes was that the hallways were narrow enough for only three well acquainted people to walk through) when one of the doors opened and a silver-haired man walked right out into her path.

Chizuru slammed on the breaks, skidding to a stop just before the man.

The man—the one _still in her way_—gave her a slow, long blink, as if his mind was having trouble catching up with the fact that he'd almost had his ass stomped into the cold tiled floor by a girl a foot shorter than him.

The two stood there for a moment in silence, one absentmindedly surprised at the apparition of early morning energy with a drooling bundle of blond in her arms, while the other impatiently-patiently waited for this ninja sloth in a half-face mask, faded sweats and fuzzy slippers to move out of her way.

The silence carried on for another long moment.

"So," the lazy eyed man drawled in a molasses smooth voice, "you're the new tenant everyone's whispering about."

Chizuru neither denied nor acknowledged this statement. There was no point. Everyone most likely knew about her living here before the Hokage had told her the address. The pale haired girl had always found it amusing that the Shinobi who were legendary in the civilian world for being able to keep their secrets even after suffering the worst sorts of torture imaginable were also the world's worst gossips. There were no secrets in a Ninja village.

"Hai, now if you'll excuse me, we have somewhere to be."

The human road block's eye widened slightly incomprehension as if he just noticed that he was standing in her way.

Riiight. Schmuck.

He stood there for a moment blinking dumbly before his single visible eye curved into a crescent.

"Eh-eh-he. Souka. Well, have a nice day."

Chizuru silently thanked her ever-listening all powerful, knowing and dryly humorous God of greatness as the big dumb man before her moved out of her way. Seriously, they were letting _any_one advance through the ranks now-a-days.

Kakashi watched the drooling bundle wielding woman speed down the hall with a deceptively lazy eye. The two seemed to be getting along alright at the moment. He had doubted the girl would be able to handle the responsibility of taking care of the vessel, or be able to set aside prejudices. Well, it hadn't been the first time he'd been off. Not that anyone would catch him admitting it. Ever. Shrugging, he turned back to go into his apartment. He'd go make his report to the Hokage soon. Stifling a yawn he closed his door.

After a nap.

* * *

While Chizuru worked, Naruto stayed in hospital's in-building daycare center. Well, it wasn't really so much a center as it was just one large room with an attached smaller one for naptime, but it did its job. The majority of the staff at the hospital were women who preferred being med-nins to being part of the seduction unit or an instructor at the Academy, so naturally there was a need for onsite, long-term daycare that wouldn't cost them an arm and a leg. There was also the fact that those who did have spouses were married to other shinobi, meaning that the other parent couldn't spare time to stay home and watch a kid for numerous hours of the day.

The daycare center was situated on the fourth floor of the white building, and was outfitted to cater to every child's need, and that included a young Chuunin med-nin who had no hard feelings where a certain little blond vessel was concerned. The nap room also served as a full-on bedroom for those who's parents had the unlucky luck of working the red-eye or night shifts while aforementioned spouses were away.

Naruto had no problems with the daycare center. In fact, one could go as far as to say he somewhat enjoyed being there most of the week. It was a nice, bright, happy place that had every toy he'd ever wanted to play with, a nice lady who looked after him, and a whole bunch of kids who wanted to play with him. He got breakfast, snack time, naptime, and there was even a story time. But the best time was lunchtime when his kaa-chan came and took him out to Ichiraku's. He still wasn't so certain she wouldn't changer her mind and give him back yet. All and all he liked the center. He had even made two friends, a feat that seemed to have gotten easier since he had met Shikamaru at the park. They're names were Momaru and Kaito and they were twin brothers. Their mommy was training his to become a med-nin and she came in with her sometimes at lunch. She had pretty eyes.

Momaru and Kaito were special, just like him. Momaru was blind and Kaito was mute. But that was okay 'cause Momaru could hear and talk and Kaito could hear and then make noises that ment stuff to Momaru so Naruto could talk to them and stuff. They were his best friends here. They played together, ate together, napped next to each other and sometimes they went out to lunch with him and his mommy.

No, Naruto had no problems with the daycare center.

* * *

Down a couple blocks and over a street the Hokage was being briefed on the unassuming mother and son. Of course, it was two hours _after_ he had scheduled for the briefing but it had come to be expected from the young shinobi sitting across from him. The man, or all things considering, the young man, had been in ANBU since before his voice had even begun to crack with puberty. He had fought in the Great Shinobi War, lived through the Kyuubi attack and was the only remaining survivor of his cell.

The Hokage was grateful that the only things to change over the years had been his ability to keep time, a certain new appreciation for a certain neon novel, and an absentmindedness that served to annoy others more than anything else. Things could be worse. He could be taking suicide missions.

Not to mention the fact that a certain Hokage also enjoyed a certain neon novel so it was alright in his book.

But that was beside the point. Sarutobi had decided that he was going to give all his young ANBU a break. It didn't hurt that he currently only had two to worry about. It was the thought that counted after all. And Kakashi had served as an active member longer than many shinobi ten years his senior had been wearing a Jounin vest. The Hokage felt that giving the sole Hatake guard duty with minimal SS missions was a suitable choice of break. Not that the silver haired boy _knew_ about the break. The Hokage was sly like that.

And Sarutobi was now realizing just how useful having the Copy-Ninja guard the recently united Uzumaki family really was.

"I caught him before he even reached the six floor but he was covered with enough exploding tags to take out one of the apartments." Kakashi drawled from his position slouched in a chair on the other side of the expansive desk, bored in both voice and appearance.

"Aa." Pipe smoke curled out around the old mans wrinkled face with that one utterance. "Have you noticed anything else?"

"Aa," the Hokage waited patiently as the masked man repositioned himself, "The lady who sales them their produce…" he trailed off for a moment before his attention shot back to the issue at hand, "has been giving them dirty looks when she thinks they're not looking."

The old man sweat dropped.

"Just thought you should know."

He felt the beginnings of a headache coming on just under his Hokage hat.

He was getting too old for this shit.

* * *

She didn't know what she had done or who she had been in a past life -if she had been the originator of the plague, cause of the World War, Mother of the Antichrist, Harbinger of Armageddon, kicked a puppy- but whatever it was she was obviously paying for it now.

Either that or someone up there was really, _really_ bored.

You'd think that after all the good she'd done, the enemy shinobi she'd killed, the change she left in the tip cup, the kittens she rescued from trees, after all that, that she'd get some good coming her way in the form of extremely well-behaved ninja patients. Or at least _sane_ ninja patients.

Maito Guy, in her opinion, was neither.

As a low level med-nin in training, it was her job to do physicals, blood tests, minor symptom diagnosis and occasionally, if she was having a really _good_ day she got to play "guess what caused _this_ rash." Sense the sarcasm. Today had been chuunin physical day at the hospital and everything had been going hunky-dory for her then low and behold, in walked the poster-child for insane, brainwashed shinobi.

The man wore a skin-tight, green spandex jump suit and neon orange leg warmers! That's right, you heard her.

Green. Spandex.

She could live with that. She could be a professional when it came to her job. She WAS ANBU, after all, being objective to a mission was in the job description. But when the man took one look at her and started spouting nonsense about "the Fires of Eternal YOUTH", and "the Beautiful Young Lotus Blossom in Bloom", she'd had enough.

Now some would say she was over reacting to the situation and that Guy was a really nice guy, _really_, and that all she needed to do was give the poor guy a chance. What would the harm be?

Her only defense, a quite valid and reasonable defense in her mind, was that none of _them_ had seen said ninja _without clothes on._ He wore man panties! Not boxers. Not briefs. Not even boxer-briefs. Man panties. Add to that his strange phrases and his penchant for strange poses and you have the makings of the stuff shinobi nightmares are made of.

Now all this would have driven a lesser ninja to making a strategic retreat and possible years of therapy with the added benefit of being heavily medicated, but she had never failed a mission before and she was about to start now. She checked reflexes, eyes and ears. She checked lung capacity, flexibility and jotted down both height and weight. Then came blood pressure and the old "Tern your head and cough" routine. And nearly and hour later Maito Guy was pronounced healthy as a horse.

She was just congratulating herself for a job well done when it happened. Months as a civilian had seemed to dull her senses (it was the only excuse she could think of) and the enemy blindsided her.

"MY STUNNING AND FIERY COMRADE CHIZURU-SAN. I, MAITO GUY, WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SPEND A BLOSSOMING YOUTHFUL EVENING OF YOUTH WOTH ME TONIGHT."

Chizuru stared at the still undressed blushing man before her, her mind slowly deciphering his words until realization hit and it ground to a halt.

Oh. Dear God.

She had just been asked out by the man panty wearing, spandex incased, jabbering retard.

Screw therapy, she needed to be committed.

* * *

**A/N: Yay! another chapter added! Man it feels good to be back. A review of any kind would be extremely apreciated. **


	5. a repeated pattern

**A/N: Hey guys, heres another chapter! YAY! I hope that you all like this chapter because it was really fun to write, though some spots were hard. IM ON SPRING BREAK BITCHES WOOT! That's probably the only reason this one is even remotely finished fast compared to my other chapters. In the next hopefully I'll get to introduce a familiar character to the story and quite possibly one that you haven't met. hmm, not sure yet. Well, enjoy!**

**I do not own. **

* * *

"-a little boy was born to her. She call-d him Ki-Kin-Kin-"

"Kintaro."

It was a dreary day in Konoha; the air outside was warm and humid- muggy- with no sign of a breeze. The soft, steady sound of rain, muffled eight stories up, was soothing to the living room's two occupants, heard through the giant, opened window next to them.

Monsoon season had come to the land of Fire.

"Kintaro or the Gold'n Boy-"

It was a rare day off for Chizuru, and the young Uzumaki family had decided to spend it inside reading, or, more precisely, Naruto stumbling along words and phrases while Chizuru helped him as he went.

"-great str'nth, an' as he grew older he grew stronger 'n stronger, so that by the time he was Ite..ehghet-"

"Eight."

The day had been long anticipated by the duo, and had been planned out before the ink had dried on the schedule board. But their carefully prearranged fun had been blown to smithereens when Yoshino, her voice sounding harried though the phone, had called to cancel because Shikamaru was coming down with something. So the two had to improvise. It had been a few weeks since the Guy Incident (as Chizuru had come to call it) and Chizuru had yet to have another run-in with the hall blocker after the first incident, the odd nin fading into the back of her mind.

"-eight years of age he was able t' cut down-"

To the random observer, be it appointment keeping nin, the old lady living in the building across from them, or the ANBU assigned to watch them, the young family looked just like that— a young family; The loving and caring mother helping her small son learn to read. Granted the aforementioned mother could have also passed for his older sister but still, the picture was a pretty one. That was one side of the random observer spectrum.

The other, slightly more cynical and bitter observer would see a mysterious and suspicious looking girl who had no true ties to Konoha aiding the bane of their existence in getting smarter.

Eh, to each their own. Difference of opinion was what made the world go round and all that jazz.

Naruto's stuttered reading stopped as an absentminded knock wormed its way through the content and lazy air. The two paused for a moment: Naruto because he had never heard someone knock on their door before (demon vessels and scary girls didn't get visitors) and Chizuru because she didn't remember inviting someone over. Needless to say the two were a little weary of what was or could be on the other side of that not-so-thick door.

With a reassuring smile and the promise of being right back, Chizuru lifted the small blond boy book and all and set him down in her previous seat, headed towards the front door.

As Chizuru neared the door, the lazy, half-hearted knock came again. Cocking an inquisitive and slightly annoyed yet almost nonexistent eyebrow, Chizuru reached for the doorknob and with an effortless twist and pull opened the door to their unexpected guest.

Mistake number one.

The single cocked eyebrow whooshed down to meet the other right above the bridge of her dainty nose in what could only be called irritation at the sight standing before her.

"Kon Ban Wa."

Chizuru felt the nerve at the edge of her brow start to spasm and twitch at the sound of the ceresin sweet fake voice and the sight of the cheerfully curved eye and greeting raised hand.

It was the hall blocker.

What was the saying about speaking the devil's name?

The silver haired Neanderthal blinked in realization as he saw who had opened the door.

Uncomfortable silence.

…

Still going.

…

Aaaaand now.

"eh-he-he."

Chizuru watched impatiently as the masked buffoon ran a hand through his gravity defying hair. Chizuru crossed her arms and looked on in askance.

"Can I help you?"

"Aa." He drawled lowering his hand to slip in inside his Jounin vest and come out with a few wrinkled rectangles of white paper to hold out to her.

Hesitantly Chizuru reached out to accept them, turning them around and over discovering that they were a few pieces of her mail. Mail that was dated for a week ago. Chizuru looked up at the slightly older boy suspiciously. How the hell did he get her mail?

"The postman," he drawled, noting the look in her eyes, "must have slipped them into my box my mistake." At this he slipped his hands back into shinobi issued pants pockets, his shoulders slouching even more.

Chizuru did a cursory look at the addresses and saw that none were bills or paychecks, something she was grateful for. Stepping back from the doorway she nodded at the young man.

"Thank you." And with that cold parting the door was closed between them, sealed with definitive snick.

* * *

Kakashi heard the sound of multiple locks click, nodding in approval before continuing to stare at the door for a moment longer in contemplation before turning and walking silently away towards the elevator. That hadn't gone as bad as he thought it could have gone. The younger girl had a right to feel suspicious of him, all things considering. All in all it could, and would, be considered a victory. It's not like he was expecting it to be handed to him on a platter with a side steamed rice and pickled vegetables. Kakashi was a patient man. All in all it could, and would, be considered a victory.

Step one complete.

* * *

Naruto watched in silent curiosity as his mommy walked to the front door before turning back to his story to silently read on ahead, skipping words he didn't know, sounding out others that he could. Mommy would be happy if she thought he could read better.

The small blond turned the glossy pages from left to right, mouthing the large-print words and taking in the brightly colored pictures with a child's wonder. This was Naruto's favorite story of all the ones he and his mommy read together. He liked to think of himself as Kintaro, the little boy in the story who lived all alone in the forest with his okaa-san.

Naruto glanced over at the door where his mother stood. She reminded him of the Old Nurse of the Mountains, 'cept she wasn't old. He wondered what happened to his father. Did he die like Kintaro's too? Naruto looked back down at the story before him. He'd make his kaa-chan proud just like Kintaro did. He'd become a great ninja and take care of her. The little blond frowned. He couldn't buy her a nice house though, they already had one.

"Okay Naruto."

Naruto looked up and smiled silently as his mommy picked him up and placed him back in her lap, his little three-year-old mind not caring who was at the door.

"Now where were we…"

There, sitting in his mother's warm embrace, a determined look in his vibrant blue eyes, Naruto made a promise.

He'd become even greater than Kintaro.

He'd be the greatest shinobi in the world.

* * *

Bill.

Bill.

Advertisement.

Hospital paycheck.

Chizuru stood at the kitchen bar sorting through the weeks' mail to the background noise of an energetic Naruto jumping from couch to couch once again playing Super Ninja with his put-upon looking fox plushy as a sidekick.

Advertisement.

Bill.

ANBU paycheck.

Newspaper.

A free coupon for Yamaguchi's Palace of Pleasure and all you can eat Buffalo wings.

The official newsletter of the Jiraiya-sama fan club.

Ad—**FREEZE.**

Chizuru blinked at the two bright, fluorescent, seizure-inducing pieces of mail lying innocently before her.

Hesitantly, as though they would spit jutsu at her, the toe-headed girl lifted up the shiny piece of paper proclaiming the "OODLES OF FUN" to be found at the Pleasure Palace between two fingers. Snapping out of her mental stupor, her eyes laser sighted in on the name and address that graced the advertisement.

Hatake Kakashi, D7.

Flipping through the remainder of the pile, Chizuru separated her mail from the Mysterious and obviously perverted Kakashi's, astounded by the amount. Honestly, how mixed up could the postman get? Gathering them up she turned to her monkey son.

"Naruto?"

The boy paused in mid-crouch, little legs quivering with the need to jump, turning with big, innocence filled eyes towards her.

"Wha' mommy?"

Ignoring the warm and fuzzy filling currently sweeping through her system at the still new title (she was on a mission damn it, emotion were MEANINGLESS) Chizuru held out her hand and wiggled her dainty fingers.

"Come on Super Ninja, We need to go somewhere." She may be just dropping off some mixed-up mail but she wasn't stupid enough to leave her boy home alone and unattended for any amount of time. She could live with the label of over-protective mother.

"Hai!" the bundle of energy sang out, leaping heroically from the rust-red (from the blood of the mini-Hokage's imaginary foes if you were to ask him) loveseat to the wooden floor to scamper over to where his mother was waiting for him by the door. Slipping on his itty-bitty orange sandals, Naruto reached up and grasped her hand in his, or more precisely, two fingers of hers, as though he had been doing it his entire life.

"Where awe we going?" he asked, curious, once they had stepped out and the door had been locked.

Chizuru glanced down at the skipping child next to her, swinging their joined hands back and forth.

"The postman accidentally put someone else's mail in with ours, so we're going to give it back."

The journey down to the D floor was relatively short and uneventful, the trip only prolonged by Naruto's decision to hop down each and every step of the last flight of stairs. Holding her hand of course.

D12, D11, D10, D9…

Chizuru glanced at the shining bronze letters and numbers as they walked past them slowly before finally reaching D7. Lifting her mail holding hand, the petite girl knocked. Then knocked again. And again. And—

Okay, if the asswad who lived behind this door didn't open up in about five seconds someone was going to get their ass ripped off and—

Chizuru jerker her fist back as the dull bronze knob turned slowly before the dull white door swung open to reveal—

The world stopped spinning on its axis

Time halted

The air in her lungs turned to a solid and

Hell. Froze. Over.

It was then that Chizuru decided either that bitch fate liked screwing with her there was a Konoha conspiracy going on that revolved around her.

That single black eye seemed to blink at her in surprise, or what she thought was surprise considering the fact that she couldn't see his face. His hair seemed more tossald then the last time she saw him and the gloved hand that was not connected with the doorknob was not customarily shoved into a jounin blue pocket but grasped a neon pink book.

The Hall Blocker and Mail Stealer was Hatake Kakashi.

"…Can I help you?"

His curious and expectant drawl brought the medic-nin in training out of her mental crash and back to the present situation.

Chizuru blinked before mentally shaking herself and lifted the hand that held Hatake Kakashi's mail.

"It seems that the postman mixed up our mail again." She said in way of explanation.

"Aa." The man said accepting the bundle in his hand before instantly brightening up at the sight of the first neon paper.

Chizuru distinctly thought she heard the sound of a squee.

"Thank-you Chizuru-san, I would have missed out on a lot if you hadn't brought this back to me." The man said, gracing her with an eye-smile.

"You're welcome, Kakashi-san."

Chizuru placed a hand on Naruto's head and began to take a step back to go when the silver haired man before her leaned against the doorjamb and casually, and a little cheerfully due to the return of his dirty mail, asked,

"How is the apartment going for you?"

Chizuru halted in her retreat, "My son and I are enjoying our stay so far," she said glancing down at the boy clutching her leg with a smile.

* * *

Kakashi took in the two standing before him, his dark eye settling on the boy after Chizuru mentioned him.

The little blond held on to the edge of the girl's blood-red shirt (same style as second chappie), his body half hidden behind her slender leg and peered up at him with big, ocean-blue eyes shyly. His blond hair gleamed with the shine of being carefully and lovingly washed with gentle hands. His face no longer held the scared, cornered animal look that he always seemed to have before Chizuru's custody and instead glowed softly with the love and attention he had been given over the last couple months. Instead of raggedy fifth generation hand-me-downs he wore brand new clothes that belonged to no one but him. Kakashi wondered what was going through the younger girls head when she had bought the fuzzy orange hoodie and bright orange sandals. The little black short-pants were acceptable for any shinobi child though.

But all those things were miniscule changes compared to one thing: The fact that Naruto _looked _at him. Before the adoption the boy never looked at an adult unless it was a lightening quick glance, and that was rare as well. But now the boy actually looked at people and not with the customary fear or cruel expectations but with curiosity. Oh don't get the up and coming Copy-nin Kakashi wrong, there was still a thick layer of weariness and caution swimming around in those deep pools of indigo if one was to truly _look_ into them but now the two emotions were outshined by the child-like happiness that the blond boy hand never gotten to experience before. All and all it seemed like he was looking at a completely different little boy.

Much better than the one he saw at the adoption through his ANBU mask.

* * *

Chizuru tensed when the taller man lazily slumped down into a crouch before them, dark eye curled into a smile. She felt little Naruto tense next to her and clutch tighter at her shirt and leg. Hoping to calm him, she began to gently run her fingers through his baby-fine hair.

"Yo," Kakashi said, raising a gloved hand in greeting to the small boy.

Chizuru felt the small arm squeeze around her leg and a little shiver shake through the boy before a big, happy smile burst across his face and the little boy stepped forward bravely.

"Hi!" came the loud and cheerful reply, "I'm Nawuto, she's Mommy and I'm this many," with that a little hand with three tiny fingers were thrust out proudly before him. He and Chizuru hand been working on numbers.

* * *

Kakashi blinked in slight surprise at the fingers being thrust before reaching out a gloved hand, giant in comparison to the one in front of him, extended a calloused index finger that had felt the grip of many kunai and shuriken and counted out loud each of the fragile and delicate little digits presented to him.

"Three," he said solemnly, "That's a very big number."

Naruto's little chest visibly puffed up at the serious praise from the older man.

" 'm a big boy," he said in his best big boy voice, "Mommy tol' me so." His tone held the blind confidence of the belief that what his mother spoke was absolute truth that every young child had in regards to their mother.

Kakashi nodded once again, showing his agreement with the blond boy's statement. Who was he to argue with the reasoning of child who clearly believed the world rotated around the petite girl before him? That the stars were birthed from her twinkling blood-red eyes, the moon caught its glow from her shining hair and that the brilliance of the sun came from her loving smile?

Or something like that. All Kakashi knew was that it wasn't going to be him that crushed the kid's cotton-candy world of fluff, pixie dust and the belief that there was fairness in the world. No, he'd leave that job to life. Or the Academy instructors. Kakashi gave that last one a second thought. Better stick with life. The Academy instructors were getting to be pretty soft teaching the brats about love thy neighbor and good will towards man or some crap like that. Seriously, when had the art of flower making ever stopped a war? What were they going to do— sneeze the enemy to death during allergy season? And what the hell did the tea ceremony have to do with being a ninja? When had the proper way to serve tea ever save lives? What? Were they planning to scald them into submission? Of course they could always take the pot and shove it up the enemy's as—

"Awe you a ninja?"

Naruto's curious question brought the young silver-haired man blinking back into the present and out of his mind rant and Kakashi found himself staring into the inquiring blue eyes of the tiny blond.

"Aa," the young ANBU said once again curving an eye and curling an unseen smile at the boy.

"I'm going to be one too," the three year old said in a serious and solemn tone that carried into his large and expressive eyes.

Kakashi was inwardly surprised at the determination he saw glowing from within the boy, wondering what had brought this on in the kid while he continued to project his smile and laidback persona out at the two before him.

"Aa. That's a good thing to want to be, Naruto." He said cheerfully.

The kid nodded in agreement before asking, "Are you a good ninja or a bad ninja?"

Kakashi found himself at a lose of words at the question. Glancing up at the white-haired girl he found her gracing him with an amused smile.

"I'm a good ninja." He said simply.

Instantly a smile exploded across the young blond's face at that answer.

"Good!" he exclaimed in his loud and cheerful voice, "'Cause if you wewa _bad_ ninja I'd havta beatcha up 'cause that's wha _good_ ninjas do."

Kakashi glanced up at the girl next to the boy once more. Clearly she was teaching him about the shinobi world and how it worked at a child's level, something he approved of wholeheartedly. Kid had to start learning about that stuff somewhere didn't he? Kakashi felt that this conversation had run its course.

"Well," he said standing to tower over two once more, "I believe I've got some coupons to use," he said cheerfully, giving the mail in his hand a slight wave of reminder.

Instantly the amused smirk the younger girl had been wearing at his expense fell into a scowl and her red, red eyes grow icy at the mention of the dirty mail.

Pulling Naruto back with her as she stepped away from him, she said coolly, " Excuse us, Hatake-san for keeping you. Hopefully the postman will get our boxes right next time." And with a slight nod the teen and the toddler were walking back down the hall towards the stairs leading upwards.

* * *

Chizuru watched in pride and silent amusement as her boy chatted up Hatake Kakashi, formerly known as the hall blocker. Naruto was growing in leaps and bounds in the social arena, first winning over the affections of the Nara clan and then that of the lady who sold them their fruit. The older woman was wrapped around his dainty little finger and Chizuru was always finding extra nashi, mikan and fuji apples mixed in sneakily with her other fruit purchases. Naruto and the vegetable lady shared no lost love, and the two didn't care if the other knew. Chizuru secretly thought that the mini blond did it on purpose. He hated vegetables.

Now it seemed he was making a new friend. Something she was proud of, on some levels. It was his choice in the new friend that bugged the red-eyed girl. He didn't need a perverted, thick-skulled, hall-blocking moron as a friend. Chizuru didn't like him, not one bit. And it didn't help when the idiot reminded her of his pervertedness by waving those eye-watering bright fliers under her nose.

No, her son didn't need a friend like him.

* * *

Kakashi watched the two for a moment in silence before heading down the hall going the opposite way. Step two complete. He knew that there would be no way for the girl to not notice the gaudy and eye-catching pieces of correspondence. He _had _picked them out just for that reason, of course. And, considering the fact that she had brought back all of it and the frigidness with which he had been greeted, she had definitely noticed it all. He had successfully wheedled his way into the somewhat good graces of the boy, something he had decided would be the hardest thing for him to do considering that the girl was extremely protective of the little blond kid. But he had done it.

Kakashi absentminded tapped the stack of mail against the palm of his other hand. Hmm. He was feeling very accomplished for the day and had the oddest craving for hot wings. Hmm. Kakashi pulled the over-the-top ( but tasteful, he might add) flier out from amongst the others. And look! He had a free coupon for this wonderful and elegant—yet fairly priced—place called Yamaguchi's that just happened to serve hot wings. And look! This lovely temple of culinary delight also had live dancing. Dinner _and_ a show.

Kakashi giggled perversely to himself.

Today was a great day.

* * *

Monsoon season had come and gone and all that it left behind were green trees and blooming flowers. White clouds moseyed on by in the see of blue sky and the sun shone brightly down in favor on the city hidden in the leaves.

Today was market day for the young family, something Chizuru enjoyed and Naruto viewed as an adventure of survival. It didn't help that today was half off day. The Cheerful sound of young children could be heard amongst the happy buzz of life that was the shoppers. And rising above it all was the shouted advertisements and urgings of the venders, sounding out from all around.

Chizuru maneuvered herself and her son lazily through the masses from stall to stall, stopping to chat companionably with the ones she had come to know and a polite smile for those she had yet to get acquainted with. She refused to shop anywhere other than the open-air market. They were fair, competitively priced against the other vendors and supermarkets and all products were fresh. It also helped that since the young families arrival months earlier the vendors had grown comfortable with the two and had come to view the minute blond child as well mannered, harmless little rascal amongst the men and a heartbreaker amongst the women.

Chizuru came to a stop at the spice lady's stall began requesting her orders.

"Oi, Chizuru-hime, when are you going to give in and marry me?"

Chizuru turned with a smile towards the next stall over to see an older man chopping up a fish as his men called out to the crowd grinning roguishly at her.

"I don't think that would go over well with your wife Nichi." She called back. Nichi was in his early thirties, had five kids and had been married for ten years to a wife he was madly in love with.

"Ah bah! Don't worry about the old woman, we'll just run away together."

Chizuru laughed along with the rest of his men as she accepted her last jar of spice with the promise of coming back for more when she ran out once again before moving on to Nichi's fish stall.

"You know you're the only one for me, Hime," he crooned at her holding his butchers knife to his chest and fluttering his eyes at her.

"Go out with me Hime!" one of his men called, bringing out another round of laughs.

I'm sorry Nichi-san but I am already promised to someone else." She said dramatically as she glanced down at the young boy holding on the edge of her cloth shopping bag.

"Ah, Young Master-san," Nichi said playfully, leaning over the edge of his stall, "How are you this fine morning?"

Naruto grinned brightly up at the man, "Fine Nichi-san!" he said cheerfully.

"Oi Naruto," one of his young men called out from his spot where he was flaying a fish for a customer, "How come you wont share your Mama-san with us? It's mean to keep her all to yourself," he said playfully.

The little blond scowled cutely at the man before hugging himself around her closest leg.

"She's my Mama-chan!" he called as if that explained everything.

Nichi nodded in wise agreement with the little boy's statement. "Hn, hn. That's right and you've got to take care of her and protect her because you are the young man of the house, right Naruto?"

Naruto nodded vigorously in agreement, "Yeah!"

"So what can I do for you, Chizuru-hime?" he finally asked once the pleasantries were over.

" I need an order of salmon and tuna. Can I pick it up at the end of my shopping?"

"Aa. It will be ready for you, my sweet Chizuru-hime."

The family of two wandered through the crowded market street buying rice, honey, eggs, chicken, dairy and vegetables, something that resulted in the usual glaring match between the lady and Naruto.

Finally they reached the fruit vendor, and Naruto's biggest fan.

"Ah, Chizuru-san!" came the boom of voice from the robust lady who ran the place, "I see you have come back for more of my fine fruit! A testament to the fact that my wares are the finest in the market!" the last was met with a death glare from the old man who ran her competition right next to her.

"Yes, aunty. Naruto has a sweet tooth for your mikan and nashi, and I find myself out of them before the week is even half gone." She said with a polite smile.

"Ah, is that true Naruto?" the older lady asked leaning over her stalls edge, pride and affection filling her loud and boisterous voice.

"Yep!" he cried, "Auntie's fruit is the best!"

"Ah-ha-ha! Of course it is! You know good fruit when you see it! What can I get for my favorite customers today?"

"Well—"

"Oi! No samples! You eat cherry, you buy!" and with that the big lady was off to the other side of her stand to sort out the cherry sampler.

Shaking her head in amusement, Chizuru went through the motions of selecting her fruit, knowing full well that the women would be adding more to the order when she thought the young girl wasn't looking.

She had gotten to the fuji apples and was absentmindedly reaching for one while turning to face Naruto who had tugged on her bag to get her attention when she felt a large hand close over hers, forcing her to whip around to see if it was an attacker only to stop in surprise when her eyes met that of one Hatake Kakashi.

The two stood there for a moment and stared in surprise at the chance of them reaching for the same apple before the silver haired man raised his opposite one in greeting.

"Yo."

"Hatake-san," she said politely, withdrawing her hand.

"Chizuru-san," he said cheerfully before turning to Naruto, "Naruto," he greeted.

"Hi!" the blond said.

"You can have the apple."

Kakashi blinked at the small girl, seemingly surprised at her offer, "Aa." He said in agreement.

"What brings you out to the market, Hatake-san? I've never seen you out here before." Chizuru asked, not caring if she sounded suspicious.

"Half-price day." He stated.

"Ah, Chizuru! I see you have finished your selection!"

The two Shiniobi's not-really-a-conversation-conversation grounded to a halt at the interruption of the robust vendor.

Chizuru nodded, paid and pretended not to notice the extra pieces of fruit before nodding a goodbye to Kakashi.

* * *

Kakashi once again watched in silence as the young family went on their way, smiling and waving at Naruto's loud farewells. It hadn't been their longest encounter nor their wordiest, but it had been enough to once again allow them to become comfortable in his presence, and this time in a public setting.

The silver-haired man picked up the apple that the two had 'accidentally' grabbed at the same time. Step three complete. Or maybe he should call it step two and a half? He shrugged to himself and fast-as-lightning took a bite of the piece of fruit. What should he do next? Hmm, good apple.

"Oi! You sample, you buy! What, you think you can take one bite and put it back?! Haven't ninja been taught better, huh?! Speak up!"

Kakashi found himself facing off with an irate and very voluptuous vendor.

* * *

She had lost him. It was the only thought that was coursing through her mind. She had lost her son.

Chizuru had taken Naruto down to the park for a play date with Shikamaru and Yoshino. It was a nice, sunny day, the birds were singing, the breeze was soft and cool and Chizuru had had no casualties during her shift the other day. It was a good day, what could have gone wrong?

She lost her flipping kid, that's what.

Not at the bustling market, or the shopping district but at the park where there was nothing to distract her. So the young teen had let her guard down and relaxed for just a moment, just a teeny, _tiny _moment and the next thing she knows is that when the two mothers went to collect their munchkins for lunch, only one had been there and it hadn't been hers.

So here she was, running around the humongous field and play area that made up the Konoha Park, looking for her little lost blond.

She hoped that all he had done was wonder off, that something had just caught his eye and he had went after it. She couldn't bare the thought that someone might have kidnapped him, taken him from her and planned on killing him or doing god knows what else. All the retrieval missions the fifteen-year-old had ever gone on flashed through her mind and the state she had found her mission objectives in.

Please just let him have wondered off.

The frantic mother came to a dead stop, her heart halting in her chest and breath freezing in her lungs at the sight before her.

There, one standing calm and lazily and the other tearfully, stood her baby and one Hatake Kakashi.

* * *

Kakashi was relaxing. It was his day off, he had a new Icha Icha book and it was a nice day.

So Kakashi was relaxing. And what better place to do so than at the village park? He had one of the nice and comfy park benches (bought with his tax payer dollars so it made it part his anyways making him entitled.) that faced the wide-open picnic field and read. It was nice considering mothers gave him dirty looks and made sure their brats stayed away. Seriously, what was wrong with a man reading a tasteful and beautifully written piece of adult literature in a child filled park?

Ok don't answer that.

Back to the point. Kakashi was relaxing, and he was planning on not letting anything ruin that, so he tried _really_ hard to ignore the sound of a little brat crying not even ten feet away.

He tried _really, really _hard.

Finally he gave a little desolate sigh and mentally bid farewell to his day off before turning to where the sound was coming from and low and behold, there stood a sniffling little blond that Kakashi knew on sight despite the tracks of tears, puffy eyes and snot the kid had.

Kakashi, not one to leave an opportunity knocking, rose bonelessly from his position and meandered over to the child.

"Oi, Naruto," he called patiently.

The kid spun to face him, teary eyes growing wide and before Kakashi could even get a word out the boy had launched himself at the copy-nins legs, gluing himself there and burst out in a garble of incomprehensible words.

Hmm. Kakashi wondered if he could con the Hokage into pay him over time for this.

"Come on," he drawled, "Lets go find your mom." Really, he was just too nice a guy for his own good.

* * *

Chizuru stared in silent shock at the sight before her.

"I… found him crying in the field." The silver-haired savior said, "Thought you might want him back."

"Mommy!" the blond blubbering boy cried out launching himself at her.

The white-haired girl caught and held him close, kissing his mop of hair and rubbing his back.

* * *

Kakashi felt the red eyes search him over before he received a heartfelt, or what he figured was a heartfelt, thank-you.

Step four complete.

* * *

Damnit. Damnit, damnit, _damnit. _IT was just her luck that she'd be called in to assist the head nurse in a complicated surgery when she had _no one_ to baby-sit. Of course that normally wouldn't be a problem except that the stupid hospital daycare was being renovated for two months so she had to have someone else watch Naruto and she only an extremely limited list of people who she trusted to watch him. Meaning two people. One of whom was currently also working at the hospital and the other, Yoshino, who was current sick and had to send her son to his grandmothers.

So, to say it simply, Chizuru was screwed. The young ANBU-pretending-to-be-a-medic paused.

Or was she?

Kakashi was just settling down to an afternoon of lunch and kunai sharpening when he heard the rather desperate sound of knocking coming from his door.

Sighing— couldn't a guy get some peace? Seriously, you' d think he'd killed enough people to at least earn that— he headed for the door. Lazily pulling it open he came face to face with a determined looking Chizuru and a happy Naruto, who sported a little orange and green backpack.

"I need you to baby-sit Naruto for me."

Kakashi idly wondered if he could close the door and pretend to not be home.

* * *

**A/N: Soooo, how do you like it? was it good? the line breaks were there to sort of signal the change in perpective between kakashi and chizuru and the scenes themselves, sort of showing events that happened over time. The story Chizuru and Naruto are reading is a real one called The Adventures of Kintaro, the Golden Boy and is an old Japanese folk tale which I found fitting for my story. Reading it might give you some future insight and can be found at, www(dot) rickwalton (dot) com (slash) folktale (slash) japan06 (dot) htm PLEASE REVIEW! **


	6. a wrinkle in the fabric

**A/N: sooo, I've been gone for a while (understatement of the YEAR) and now i'm back! YAY! i know this is a super dupper short chapter, like just a tick over a thousand words, a... mini chapter if you will. but the thing is is i've been feeling REALLY guilty for not updating and i'm going on a sweet little vacay to SoCal tomarrow and I had to give you all SOMETHING. so i gave you this. It's actually part of a much bigger scene i am near to complete in hammering out that i see as a sort of turning point in the story and a bit of funny for us all. well, on with the chapter!**

**Ceri**

**I do not own Naruto.**

* * *

It was another routine day of what had become Kakashi's new routine. Brightly colored toys consisting of play kunai and shuriken, shinobi action figures, legos, a mister ninja potato head, and— oddly enough— a fox plushy he swore stared at him (little bastard gave him the willies) lay scattered across the wood floor of his spartan apartment. Jumbled amongst the toys was a coloring book, a box of abused crayons and one giant story book he was supposed to help the kid read.

Che. Fat chance of that happening. Brat could learn to read on his own damn time. It's what _he _had to do. Besides, it built character.

Despite all of Kakashi's bitching, he really didn't mind Naruto being there. Sure it was annoying and irritating to an extent, considering the fact that the silver-haired man had always been one for his solitude, but he could get over that. It was time he started learning how to interact with the munchkin. He knew that bastard Hokage (meant in the most respectable sense of the word) was planning on giving him a gennin squad eventually.

Either that or his paranoia was really starting to kick in.

Anyways, back on topic, Kakashi had gotten extremely used to Chizuru using him as a brat dumping spot when she got called in unplanned to the hospital while the daycare was being renovated and for a man (hey, just because he'd been a late bloomer didn't mean anything) who had trouble (understatement of a lifetime) accepting remotely any form of personal change, he saw this as a huge accomplishment in his personal growth.

The first time he had awoken to the sound of hectic banging on his door he had thought that Konoha, in its current still slightly weakened state, had come under attack. That or his landlady was there to demand his marginally late rent again.

So imagine his inwardly projected surprise (HA. He was NINJA. Master of hidden emotions) when he had opened his door to the sight of a slightly disheveled medic-nin in training toting a bundle of what appeared to be on further inspection a giddy Naruto dressed half-hazardly in a light blue Tee-shirt decorated with the Leaf Village emblem at the center, brown short-pants the ended just below his knees and a pair of eye-bleedingly bright orange sandals. Wrapped in his arm and clutched to his chest was some sort of drinking device with a weird spout-like lid that contained an orange shaded substance.

On his tiny little back was what suspiciously looked like an orange and green backpack.

_"I need you to baby-sit Naruto for me."_

_Well that certainly put the piss in his lemonade._

_"Hn?" was the only intelligent answer he could give._

_"I have to go into work for an emergency and I have no one to watch him right now." Her words came out in a rush as though she had had to force them out before her mind could stop her._

_Kakashi thought about it for a nanomoment, his quick mind flashing through his options as he continued to stare lazily at the harried girl before him. One, he could say no, smile cheerfully, say have a nice day, and slam the door in her face. Something a little more than half of his mind was not ashamed to be rooting for. Two, he could smile, grit his teeth, spread his arms wide in welcome and cry out, 'sure, why not, I have no life.' About half of what was left of his brain wanted that._

_Hmm…_

_Sigh._

_He hated being such a nice guy._

_"Aa."_

And that's how he ended up the way he was now: Baby-sitting the little blond pinball about twice a week ranging from early morning to anytime in the afternoon. Due to this finicky schedule, Kakashi found himself missing out on some prime pub time with his buddies that he was sure they were getting suspicious about. That wouldn't normally be a big deal, seeing as he really didn't give a rat's ass whether or not he missed a day or two seeing them except that he REALLY didn't want them showing up at his apartment anytime soon demanding he tell them why he wasn't showing up. Stupid nancies were worse then mother hens and nosier than the old lady next-door. Especially Gai and Genma. Gai, being the thick-skulled mommy's boy he was, would just want to know if anything was wrong but Genma…Genma would want to know the who what where when and why's.

And then he would turn his seemingly innocent and virtually unmotivated assistance of his neighbor into something perverted.

The fact that he read pornographic novels every day was beside the point.

Kakashi shook his silver haired head to dispel the thoughts of his dirty-minded friend. Never mind him. Trying to understand the slightly older Shinobi would take time and energy the currently baby-sitting copy ninja was too lazy to expend.

Naruto was taking a nap on his narrow bed having been stuffed with food and played with till he couldn't stand anymore. Kakashi felt extremely pleased with himself at the moment. There was nothing the Hatake couldn't master be it jutsu or the art of child rearing. To celebrate his mission's success, he decided to treat himself to a few quiet moments alone with his precious Icha Icha Paradise, Vol. 3.

Settling down in one of the two wooden chairs that were tucked into his small and narrow dining table he slowly cracked open the slim neon hardback, releasing a sigh as the smell of printer ink and machine made paper greeted him like a lover welcoming back their beloved after a long mission.

Giving a slight wiggle in the stiff backed seat to get comfortable, Kakashi sunk into the erotic, yet tasteful, story.

It was just getting good when there came a pounding on his door, jerking the teenage Shinobi out of the world he longed to stay in.

Glaring at the door one-eyed, he snapped the book shut. Who the hell was it? Not Chizuru, she knocked politely; not his landlady because she didn't have the strength to knock that hard and led with her voice. Glancing over at the still napping three-year-old, he set his book down and began to rise from his seat—

"Kakashi! Open this damn door you asshat!"

—and promptly froze halfway up, dark eye going wide.

Oh God, no.

The banging continued.

"Come on you bastard, I know you're in there, let me the hell in!"

nonononononononono.

"You remember that time when you and Gai had that little race through the ladies' dorms—"

The table was vaulted, toys leapt over, a young Mr. Yuki narrowly avoided death by foot, and the door wrenched open before the man on the other side could finish his sentence.

"Genma."

* * *

**a/n: sigh, genma's so frickin' hawt. Makes you wonder what's going to be up next huh? please review?**


	7. a bent needle

**A/N: Yay! another chapter woot woot. You cant see me right now, but I'm doing my happy dance. More Genma Madness! and, dare I say it, a rival for Gai in winning the lovely med-nins affections?! le Gasp! ANY-hoot, hope you like it and I hope my Genma lives up to your expectations. I've got big plans for our beloved man-whore. Big. you dont no what they are, you can guess, you might get close but I wont tell but lets just say the plans are big, BIG I TELL YOU. so enjoy. More characters will be intorduced some you know, some you don't and more situations. I can assure you that the quilt is getting bigger as we speak- er- type. **

**p.s. Im so not Masashi Kishimoto**

**...Or am I?**

* * *

The brown haired, bandana wearing, senbon-sucking chuunin from hell stared in slight surprise, hand raised in mid pound for a moment before his face split in a wide, roguish grin, a mischievous glint filling his whiskey colored eyes before he shoved his way passed the currently stoic teen and into the tiny apartment.

"Gen—"

"Kakashi, you sneaky bastard, why the hell are you hiding out in your apartment? We've been down at the pub all day sip—"

Kakashi stiffened at the sudden silence from the village loud mouth.

"…What the hell is this?" Genma's questioning tone, filled with perverted inquiry, caused the silver-haired teen to inwardly cringe.

Kakashi really hoped that what Genma was inquiring about wasn't what he knew his friend was inquiring about. He glanced over.

Damn, he hated being right.

His aforementioned senbon-sucking buddy's eyes were glued to the little bundle still— thank all that was sacred and holy— napping peacefully in the bed under his window.

"Kakashi, you got something you want to tell me about? Something blond, midgety and sleeping in your bed?"

The silver-haired younger man knew that the more he stalled the worse the questioning would get, and decided that the sooner he got this over, the sooner he could kick the idiot out. Kinda like ripping off a band-aid.

"It's not what you think. I'm babysitting for one of my neighbors while she does her nursing duties at the hospital."

Kakashi knew he had screwed himself over the instant the words left his mouth: he had said 'she' and 'nurse'.

Genma whipped around to face him, the manic gleam in his eye shining brightly, the smile curving his mouth threatening to split his face.

"You're babysitting for a neighbor? Who happens to be a nurse? Damn Hatake, I couldn't have done this any smoother," there was a hint of not-brother brotherly pride in his voice, "Well except I would've already—"

"What are you talking about?" Kakashi said flatly.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about, you dirty bird, you. You're totally watching the brat just to do his mom!" Genma said triumphantly arms crossed over his chest.

Kakashi glared at the flipping moron taking up space in his apartment.

"Gen—"

"I never figured you for an older woman type of guy though. I guess there's an allure to the older ladies. Know what they're doing, and what they want, not that I lean that way— I like 'em young and wild— but hey if you've got a thing for the mom type then—"

Kakashi felt a vein begin to bulge at the corner of his forehead and an eye start to twitch.

"'Kashi?"

The sleepy inquiry from the bed cut through the bandana wearing nin's ramble like a blade. Glancing over, the two saw that the formerly napping three year old was now awake, and sat rubbing at his eyes amongst a pile of twisted bedding, sunlight causing his sleep-tousled blond hair to glow.

Looking at the little rumpled bundle on the bed, with his chubby baby cheeks, big blue eyes and penchant for sharing hugs and carrying around a doll, (Chizuru tried to convince him it was an action figure. Che. Like he was falling for that. Kakashi knew a doll when he saw one.) The mismatched eyed nin had to admit that it was hard to believe that the cute little guy was the container for the most powerful and terrifying demon to ever roam the earth. Really, it was slightly awe inspiring that something so vast and puissant, not to mention evil, could fit into something so small, but only slightly.

"'Kashi-chan?"

The silver-maned teen snapped out of his reverie at the sound of his unwanted nic-name being mentioned. Glancing over at his friend he saw the brunet arch a brow at the title.

"'Kashi-chan'"? Said brunet asked with ill-hid amusement.

Kakashi didn't even dignify that with an answer.

"'Kashi?" came the little sleep filled voice again.

Putting on a bright smile, only visibly expressed by the arch of a squinted eye, Kakashi headed over to where the boy rested, his voice cheerful when he answered him.

"Naru-chan," he called, "did you have a nice nap?"

The minute, rumpled blond rubbed his eyes once again than nodded before turning inquisitive blue eyes on to the stranger in the room.

"Who awe you?"

Now Genma, being the great, awe-inspiring, clever shinobi that he so obviously was, knew how to handle a small, easily riled child.

…not.

"I," the senbon sucking ninja announced, practically bouncing over to flounce down upon the bed, startling the three year old, "am the great, and powerful Shiranui Genma, Seducer of young, beautiful maidens (and the occasional housewife), Sexiest shinobi under thirty, three years running, and not to mention the most kick ass Chuunin the leaf's got." At that he pressed his hand down upon Naruto's blond head and gave it a rough rub, mussing the already mussed hair and said, cocky smirk in place, "Eat your heart out kid."

Naruto stared up at the man sitting before him in sleepy silence, a pouty frown in place, as he tried to figure him out. Now normally the boy was all too eager to make new friends but he had just been woken up from his nap (at this his frown turned into a scowl. Ninja's didn't _nap_) that had _only _lasted an hour and a half, he was hot, groggy, still sticky from the snacks 'Kashi had given him and to top it off, his favorite juice (in his favorite sippy cup) had somehow mysteriously disappeared during aforementioned nap.

Vibrant blue eyes narrowed suspiciously on the guy with the weird stick thingy taking up his space. He could be the juice stealer.

Genma felt his smile start to twitch and fade at the stink eye the brat was giving him. "Oi, Kakashi, what's with the kid?"

Kakashi took in the hostile frown that Naruto was currently aiming at his man-whorish friend and felt the first stirrings of amusement at the situation since the senbon wielder stormed in. Keeping silent, he continued to watch the exchange.

Silence filled the room.

Genma hadn't felt this uncomfortable since he got caught with his pants down by the elderly grandmother of the twin sisters he was playing "hide and seek" with.

Naruto tilted his head one way at the man, then the other before seeming to come to some sort of conclusion.

Thrusting his little sticky finger up at the man he stated simply, "I don't like you."

Genma stared dumbly down at the little boy as he heard Kakashi snort behind him.

Naruto, having had enough of the weird man, turned to where his 'Kashi-chan stood against a wall and raised his little baby arms to him, "'Kashi," he pouted fingers grasping in the air, "I'm sticky."

Sighing, the silver-haired nin sauntered the short distance between his position and the bed, bending the slight distance to scoop the drowsy toddler up into his arms, one arm under his bottom while the other hand rested warmly against the small back. Kakashi had to suppress the slight cringe he felt as Naruto snuggled his sticky face into the cradle of his nanny's neck.

"Let's give you a bath before you go home, ne Naru-chan?" the last Hatake said as he turned to stride into the bathroom, only stopping to pick up the little backpack that contained a spare change of clothes.

Genma watched them go in silent amusement. "You know you're really good at this mommy thing Kakashi." He called.

His only response was the middle finger sent his way over the Copy-nin's shoulder before the bathroom door was closed and the sound of rushing water could be heard.

* * *

Genma took his time perusing around the small apartment as Kakashi helped the kid get washed up in the bathroom.

"You know Hatake," he said picking up a blank sealed scroll from off the counter for inspection, "We really need to get you a better apartment, man. This place is not conductive for your love life. I mean, what kind of woman does it on a bed fit for one, in a room that's the dining room, living room _and_ bedroom? Not that I haven't gone at it in more compromising places, if you know what I mean. But a man's gotta have a love shack to come back to, you know? A lair to bring those special ladies to when you're not going for one of those in before midnight, out before dawn days."

"Genma, I don't give a shit what a woman thinks of my apartment." Came the muffled reply.

The senbon chewer set down the scroll and shot a glare towards the bathroom door as he moved on to inspect the narrow bookcase.

"No wonder you have to go the babysitting rout. A man's apartment is like his personal temple to his soul, Hatake. To a woman anyway. They see it as a reflection of his personality. You know what a chick sees when she walks in through that door? A workaholic ninja, who spends most his time on jutsu's, taking care of a plant, and," he said pulling out one of the worn— but well cared for— neon volumes and flipped it open, "who reads too much porn. God you're repressed." He muttered the last to himself before dismissing the book. "You know what that amounts to in a woman's eyes man? A missionary man who doesn't cuddle after."

"Listen Genma, I don't care what a woman thinks about my place, or my personality. I could care less if they think I'm a missionary man. And just for the record, I don't cuddle."

"Spoken like a true virgin," Genma murmured in amusement, "Listen; after you're done with this babysitting thing, I'm gonna take you down to the bar— where you should be _anyways _at nearly two— and we're gonna hook you up with—"

A polite knock interrupted his rant.

"I got it." The bandana wearing sex-fiend sang out.

"Genma," Kakashi warned from the bathroom, "Don't you op—"

Too late.

Genma enthusiastically pulled the door open wide, intent on finding out just who would visit his stoic friend only to have his eyes widen at the vision of younger flesh that stood before him.

The narrowing of her entrancing red eyes brought him out of his lust induced stupor.

"Well hello there, pretty lad—erk!"

He suave pickup line was interrupted by the short girl knocking him flat on his ass with a swift kick to the chest, tackling his prone form, then straddling him and holding a kunai to his throat. Hmm…this had tons of kinky possibilities. Maybe she had some other tricks hidden—

"Pedophile!" She hissed out, inches away from his face.

—up her skir— whoa what? Pedophile? What the hell was she talking—

"Who the hell are you and where are Kakashi and Naruto?" The white haired vixen growled out, pressing the blade closer to his vulnerable flesh.

"Chizuru, he's not a pedophile, just a friend, unfortunately."

Genma whipped his head back to look at his silver-haired friend and the sparkling cleaned and changed sleepy little boy in his arms upside-down.

"Kakashi! So nice of you to join us. Mind introducing me to your friend?"

The silver-haired, baby holding, post-pubescent, and all around _not_ virgin (HA. Like Genma knew _everything_) viciously stomped down on the part of him that found this situation even marginally funny.

"Chizuru," he said, trying to get the younger girl's attention away from trying to burn a hole through Genma's head with her hell-fire eyes, "he's not here to hurt Naruto."

The white haired girl's bloody eyes flickered up momentarily to the young man and the boy before rising swiftly to stride over to them, completely dismissing the man she had tackled.  
"His nap was cut short." Kakashi said by way of explanation at the slightly worried look on the white haired girl's face. "We had an unexpected visitor."

Genma watched the hot little number on a pair of some of the finest legs he'd ever laid eyes on almost coo over the bath fresh, rosy cheeked, thumb sucker. She stood their in a white nurse's knee-dress (every Shinobi's fantasy), it's perfect row of pure, round white and gleaming buttons taunting him with their need to be slowly unbuttoned (or fiendishly ripped open) to reveal the lacy red lingerie that cupped her body ever so lovingly, a kunai tucked dangerously into the side band of her matching garter.

Her beautiful white hair was tossed up in a mussed bun and the Chuunin could imagine just letting the restrained locks down and mussing them up even more, preferably through a hawt bout of nastiness back at his place.

Smirking at those pleasant thoughts Genma let his eyes drift down the length of the delectable legs once more.

Now if only her ninja-issued sandals would miraculously turn into shiny, fire red pumps and his fantasy would be complete.

Shaking his head to clear away the steamy images, he forced himself to pay attention to the conversation at hand.

"Thanks for watching him again, Kakashi. I don't have to work tomorrow so you don't have to expect us showing up."

"Aa. No problem, and I have time to catch up on my books." The silver-haired nin said with some cheerful eagerness.

Genma rolled his eyes. Smooth Hatake, _that'll_ woo her.

"He wasn't a problem today, was he?"

"Iie. He was as good as usual."

Genma could not believe how dry this conversation was. There was no sexual innuendo at all! How could Kakashi expect to seduce anyone when he couldn't even bring himself to hit on a wet dream when it was standing right in front of him?!

The two younger nin exchanged both kid and the backpack and were now turning back to the door. Pausing at the sight of his relaxed form still on the floor, the vision in a nurse's uniform raised one fine, frigid white eyebrow at him. Genma put his "come hither" smirk on and gave her the ol' sexy eyes, hoping to melt her currently chilly disposition.

Stepping around and over him (no panty peek for him) she balanced the now dozing boy in one arm and against her chest while she opened the door.

"See you later, Kakashi."

"Sayoonara." Was the Hatake's cheerful farewell, eye squinted and hand raised.

As soon as the door closed Genma was off the ground.

"Dude! You didn't tell me the kid had really hot older sister!" he ranted before flopping back on the unmade bed, "That's one nee-san I'd like to sink my teeth into." he stated with a wicked smile.

Kakashi leaned non-chalantly back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest.

"She's fifteen." He told his nineteen-year-old friend blandly.

"So, age is, after all, justa number." The wicked grin turned distinctly lecherous as he crossed his arms behind his head.

Kakashi, deciding to play with his friend some more said, "I don't think she'll go for someone Naruto doesn't like."

"That's why he's her _brother_ not her kid. It's not like I have to get the kid to like me in order to get his mom to like me. I'm going for the sister. Totally different."

"But he is her kid."

Genma opened his mouth to give an obnoxious reply when he caught the words and blinked.

"Wha?"

Kakashi felt his lips twitch in a gleeful smile at his friend's dumb-struck look.

"Chizuru is Naruto's mother, not his sister."

"…You're shitting me."

"No."

Genma mentally kicked himself in the pants at the error he had made and silently vowed he'd make it up to himself the next time he saw the hawt little nee-san around the village. He'd get into her nurses outfit eventually, no one could resist the Lure of the Genma-nator. But that was for later.

"Well, no use crying over spilt sake and all that so," he said jumping up and rubbing his hands together with gusto, "to the pub!"

Kakashi sighed, mentally saying goodbye to his hours of quality time with his books before following his pervy friend sedately to the door.

"I can't wait to tell Asuma 'bout this."

Kakashi momentarily froze at that statement before tearing out the room after his friend's fleeing form.

"You son-of-a-!"

* * *

Upstairs at the top of the building, a little blond bundle rolled over with a soft sigh, clutching his beloved sippy cup to his chest as his faithful fox plushy watched over him. The soft humming of his mother wafting up from the floor below.

A day of peace in the war world of Shinobi.

* * *

**a/n: sooo what did you think? was he good enough? I NEED YOUR APPROVAL! hey, i've got low self esteem, what can i say, so do you one good deed of the day boosting by reviewing. please?**


	8. stepping on a pin

Nara Shikamaru was a quiet child.

Wait, scratch that.

Nara Shikamaru was a _lazy_ child.

Hatake Kakashi contemplated the young boy sitting in the middle of the Uzumaki living room, appearing almost catatonic; watching silently as the ever-energetic Naruto played around him. At the ripe old age of four, the youngest Nara had yet to utter a single word and seemed content with using grunts and bland stares as appropriate responses. Really, the silver haired nin had to admit as he observed the almost vacant expression on the dark haired boy's face, he was a most unlikely choice of companion for a kid like Naruto. In fact, now that Kakashi thought about it, the Nara clan on a whole was odd.

In a world where death was around every corner, it was common for a ninja family to have multiple children, especially clan heads, and at young ages. Highest numbers occurring in families that expected sons to carry on the clan. The Yamanaka had two sons and one girl. The Akimichi had three sons in quick secession. The Uchiha Clan Head had just been gifted with a second son a few years back in case their genius eldest died before he could birth the next leader. Even the Inuzuka, who held more weight in the birthing of daughters, had not stopped until they had just gotten a son, obnoxious brat that he was.

And yet it seemed the Nara didn't hold to that tradition. Each generation clan head only seemed to leave the next to a single child, or in the rare case two, be it male or female. They were also a clan that held themselves apart from most of the village; preferring to make close, life-long friendships and alliances with select few other ninja families within the village. And it seemed like the latest generation had chosen to make such a connection with the newest Uzumaki family. They chose to stay in the background of ninja society; working hard at keeping the peace and taking care of their herd of deer and while they appeared to be a clan of mediocre ninja at best, they all some how managed to rise to high-ranking positions, complaining all the way.

Kakashi tilted his head in hidden curiosity as Shikamaru –or "Shika-kun" as Naruto called him- seemed to snap out of his self-induced trance to start a rousing game of ninja with the spunky blond. He'd have to watch the dark-haired boy closely, knowing full well that there was more to him then what was plain to see.

The last Hatake finally turned his attention away from the sight of the two romping boys and focused it on the girl-mother sitting at the kitchen bar, working attentively on what appeared to be a mix-matched patched together square of fabric, her nimble fingers working in a continuous up and down motion in which there was a pause between the two where she pushed the shiny silver needle back through the other side. It was something that the Med-nin had been working on for some time in order to perfect her quick suturing skills for fieldwork. At first it had amused him, giving him a little chuckle every now and then at her expense, but now it was another source of curiosity for him. It was clear that the patches she used were not just random scraps that she had found just lying about. Obviously they had a special meaning of some sort.

Or that was going to be one reall~y fugly piece of stitch-work when the chuunin was finished.

Mentally shaking the thought off, Kakashi lazed over to where the girl was sitting.

"So," he said, leaning against the counter and catching her attention, "how was Naruto's first birthday party? Did he do fine when he realized you weren't staying with him?"

Chizuru sighed as she set her patchwork down, glancing over to where the two boys were rolling around together on the floor, before she answered in a low voice.

"We had known for a week before that I wouldn't be able to go help chaperone Shikamaru's birthday party, so for the first couple of days Naru was uncomfortable with the idea, but after Yoshino-san and I assured him that both she and Shikaku were going to be there, he was fine with it."

Kakashi nodded his head in understanding before asking, "And during the party?"

At this the white-haired girl frowned, making her look, in Kakashi's opinion, more like a kawaii little girl than anything else.

Made him want to pinch her cheeks.

"Apparently there was a little problem with one of the parents who was helping out."

At this Kakashi visibly perked up, "Oh? What kind of problem?" hey, he liked drama as much as the next nin.

"From what Yoshino-san witnessed, apparently one of the mother's who was helping to chaperone the party decided Naruto didn't need a piece of birthday cake. Or ice cream."

The silver haired ANBU arched his single fine eyebrow at this, urging her to continue.

Sighing she continued, "Shikamaru didn't seem to like it very much, from what she told me, and made a fuss—well, as much of a fuss as he's capable of making—and refused to have any cake until Naruto got some too. Then after the cake was done Yoshino-san said that the two disappeared and Shikaku-san didn't find them until he and Yoshino-san were cleaning up. Shikaku-san found them curled up under the table together, asleep."

Kakashi arched his one visible silver brow and settled his single probing black eye on the young Nara in the living room. It seemed that he would be paying _much _more attention to him than he'd previously thought. But that was for another time.

"Hm. Seems that the people are having a hard time following the Hokage's mandate. Must have been a civilian," he finished with false cheer.

At this Chizuru snorted in a very un-ninja like manner, never taking her pomegranate eyes off the two boys.

"How hard can it be for them to treat a little boy like a little boy? He's done nothing to these people," she finished in a harsh whisper.

The Hatake dropped any pretense of light-heartedness with the last of her words and the unrelenting gleam in her eyes, "Depending on who they lost in the Attack, it can be very hard for them. Having to live with a constant reminder let alone forced to act as though they don't know unless they're looking for a quick death is painful. Having no outlet for their emotions is hard. It makes them fester until all that's left is hate. Losing someone you love does that to a person. I think those that lost no one seem to forget that."

Kakashi felt his heart thump once in warning before it settled back to its even pace, and reminded himself that he was not on the battle field, and that the petite girl before him, a chuunin no less, was not his enemy as he found himself the focus of a pair of deep bloody eyes filled with a heartache and bitterness he hadn't known was containable.

"They also seem to forget that they weren't the only ones who lost someone."

The sound of childish laughter was all that filled the room for a moment.

"And it isn't hard for me."

* * *

Later that night Chizuru tucked the two little boys into Naruto's frog-print covered bed, the blonds' two normal bedmates, a cheerful frog and a super-softy fox were spending the night on one of the many toy shelves.

"But Mommy, we'rw not tired now."

The white haired teen smiled. The kid's statement would have been more believable had he not yawned at the end.

"You two had a long day together, Naru-chan. And Yoshino-san is going to be picking you up early tomorrow so you can spend the day with Shikamaru-kun."

Naruto smiled brightly, easily distracted from the thought of protest at the reminder of the fact that he was going to spend the _whole_ day with his best friend.

"Ok."

The young mother smiled gently back before kissing both boys softly upon the forehead and quietly leaving the toddler's room, turning the light off as she went.

Despite Naruto's claim to not-tiredness, the boy was out in a matter of seconds, his slight snores filling the dark room with their nasally music.

Nara Shikamaru, on the other hand, was not.

The silent boy was steadily watching his friend sleep; his dark eyes filled with rumination. In Shikamaru's mind, he (Shikamaru), was a very simple boy. He did not talk because he felt that there was nothing important to say; he also wasn't a picky eater because, really, like his okaa-san wouldn't make him eat it anyways right? He liked simple joys such as watching clouds go by, napping and playing in the sandbox. As you can see, Shikamaru had a great love of all things simple and easy, therefore he saw his friendship to Naru-chan as completely logical. I mean, who was more easier or simple to get along with? None of those icky girls, that's who. Always wanting to play house and make him the husband who has to go to work while they played with dollies. Or that whiny Uchiha boy who _always_ wanted to play ninja's and hit really hard and got irritated when he didn't talk. Nope, his Naru-chan was simplest and the easiest kid his age to get along with. When they played in the sandbox, Naru-chan did most of the work and Shikamaru never had to worry about talking because Naruto had more than enough words for the both of them. And Naru-chan never hit hard when they played ninja. Plus he wasn't an ookie girl, which was a _huge_ positive in Shikamaru's eye.

So when the boy he deems perfect for being his only and bestest friend in the whole village gets treated badly Shikamaru can't help but feel a bit…protective.

Frowning softly the silent boy thought back on the events earlier in the week.

_Flashy flashy…_

_Shikamaru had been bored out of his mind all afternoon. Not to mention slightly irritable with the sounds of numerous kids he barely knew (and didn't want to know) shrieking all around him the entire time. He was tired, wearing a stupid hat, blind from all the pictures his okaa-san was taking, and just wanted to take a nap. Preferably with Naru-chan._

_Sigh, and it wasn't even time for presents. _

_As you can imagine, Shika-chan was not a happy boy. _

_And he was about to get even more unhappy. _

_They were all sitting around his low dinning room table, all being the kids his mother had taken the liberty to invite, while some blonde lady (not pretty blonde like Naru-chan's mommy) dished out ice-cream and cake. The medium sized gathering of three and four year-olds could barely contain themselves on their pillow seats. _

_Shikamaru just wanted the damn woman to hurry up so he could open the stupid presents and go take a nap. Again, preferably with Naru-chan._

_He sat patiently as the too loud woman placed a cheerfully decorated party plate containing both a slice of vanilla with vanilla frosting cake and a scoop of-- surprise, surprise-- vanilla ice cream in front of him then moved on to do the same for a loud, annoying kid and moving on._

_She had completely skipped his Naru-chan all together, who held the coveted spot of sitting next to the birthday-boy at the head of the table. _

_Shikamaru was not pleased. _

_Frowning slightly as the strange woman finally made her circuit around the table and announce that it was time for the singing of the happy birthday song, Shikamaru barely glanced at his slightly confused friend before sliding his plate over for Naruto to have._

_"Oh no Shikamaru-chan! That's __**your**__ cake and ice cream sweetie," the blonde, overly loud woman said cheerfully, yanking the plate back across the table and sending a glare at his best friend._

_Feeling more than seeing the little blond's heart-broken expression, Shikamaru had finally had enough. He was tired, there were tons of kids he didn't want to play with in his house, and all he wanted was a nap with his Naru-chan._

_"You didn't give Naruto cake or ice cream."_

_At the sound of the Nara heir's first words, a slightly shocked silence settled over the room. _

_Had he really just spoken?_

_The blonde woman, not knowing if she had heard him right, simply said, "Eh?"_

_Glaring at the annoyance of having to repeat himself, Shikamaru said more forcefully, "You didn't give Naruto any cake or ice cream. So I'm giving him mine." And with an air of 'that's that' Shikamaru slid his plate back over. _

_As the woman spluttered for words under the stares of parents and toddlers alike Yoshino gracefully stepped forward to gently take the cake knife from her hand saying politely, "I can take it form here, Yamanaka-san," turning from the woman to smile brightly at the children. "Who's ready for the birthday song?" _

_As the bright voices of children took up the song, Yoshino placed a plate in front of her son and patted Naruto encouragingly on the head._

_Naru-chan turned and sent a bright smile at his best friend, "Thanks Shika-kun!" and leaned over to give the slightly older boy a kiss on the cheek._

_And, though he'd only EVER admit it to himself EVER, to Shikamaru, that was the best present of all. _

_End flashy, flashy_

After he had eaten his mandatory cake, and opened all those stupid presents, he had waited for no one to be looking and pulled Naruto under the table with him for a nap, not caring what everyone else wanted. It was HIS birthday after all, and he wanted to nap with his best friend.

And so here he lay, watching as the younger boy slept soundly next to him. He really didn't understand why people had to be so difficult when it came to the blond boy. Sure he could be loud and overly enthusiastic at times, and he _did _have a tendency to get hurt over the most miniscule things (not that Shikamaru's best friend was a cry-baby, he was just slightly more sensitive than others), and he had an irritating habit of snuggling up against him when they were napping or sleeping together, but it didn't deserve the mean looks and mutters that he got when they were out and about.

The Nara heir frowned at the thoughts running through his head. It was too much thinking for him. Really, he was only four; it was his duty to _not_ think about stuff. Like when he let Naru-chan bury him in the sand box, or when they decided to slide down the spiral staircases rail.

Sighing deeply, he closed his eyes, and let everything drift away, like wisps of clouds slipping across the sky.

* * *

The night was still. The air calm and breezeless. The world was so quiet one could almost hear the heartbeat of the warm earth beneath them. Long shadows cast by the bright full moon were flat and deep.

But not deep enough to conceal the body moving swiftly within them.

From shadow to tree, they leapt nimbly from branch to run up a battered metal wall until they reached an overhanging metal balcony.

Silently, ever so silently, they crept to large window. With an absentminded but deft movement it was unlocked, and soundlessly they were inside.

With the light of the moon it was easy to see their target in the dark of the room, decorated for the child it housed within. Moving with the skill of a seasoned professional the intruder glided and toed around blocks, bears, shoes and carelessly discarded clothing until their dark shadow was cast over the two small children within the bed, their would-be protectors sitting mutely and helplessly upon the shelf, staring with wide, unblinking eyes.

Silently, the trespasser observed them, raising an unseen brow at the sight of the smaller blond child's head resting in the hollow of the dark haired boys shoulder; his arm wrapped around his waist.

But that wasn't why they were there. Rounding the bed til they were on the blond boys side, the interloper leaned soundlessly over the child; observing him with unblinking eyes. He looked healthy for a boy of almost four. True, he was small for his size, and the watcher assume that the boy would be for quite some time. The years of going with little food and constant neglect had left their marks upon him, no matter how brief the contact. But he was healthier. More filled out. Showing no signs of stress or abuse. Happier.

A soundless, almost non-existent displacement of air, and the sharp blade of a kunai was pressed mutely against vulnerable, exposed skin.

Right beneath the edge of the observers porcelain mask.

Slowly, ever so slowly and cautiously, they traced down the arm wielding the weapon until they reached the dead red eyes of the boy's young adopted mother.

"Good evening, ANBU-san. Would you mind visiting at a more appropriate hour? As you can see, the children are asleep. If you have pressing matters to discuss, I'm sure you and I could find a more felicitous setting for such things."

For long moments the two stared at each other before the ANBU operative nodded in understanding to both the request to leave and the threat. Turning without a word, they headed back out the way they came, pausing only in notice of the almost invisible seal peeking out from behind a stack of dolls on the shelf next to the window, from its place stuck to the wall.

Chizuru watched as her unwanted visitor made their exit, being polite enough to close the window and relock it on the way. For a few breathless moments she kept watch before turning back to Naruto and Shikamaru still sleeping in the bed. To be safe, she ran a careful diagnostic check on the boys, just to make sure. Finding nothing, she stared down at them, a slight smirk tipping up the corners of her lips. They'd be so mad that they didn't wake up when a ninja had broken into the room. Not that she'd tell them that. No that was her little secret. Looking down at the poor smothered Shika-chan, the teen mother carefully and gently wedged her boy off him, giving the mini Nara a few centimeters of breath room before tucking the two back in and leaving the room. She had a few more hours before she had to wake up. A girl needed her beauty sleep.

The girl felt no need to inform the Hokage about the incident.

He was the one who had sent the shinobi, after all.

* * *

From his vantage point four rooftops and six trees away, the ANBU watched as the Uzumaki household returned to sleep. He felt slightly amused at the events that had taken place. Honestly, he should have noticed the warning seals on either side of the windows. An admittedly clumsy mistake after being so long without real practice. But in his defense, he hadn't spent much time in Naruto's room. He _had_ been quite surprised at Chizuru's appearance. A somewhat green Chuunin medic with the speed and skill to sneak up on an ANBU, even a slightly rusty one, before they even knew she was there, was something that didn't happen too often. More like never.

Unless, of course, she really wasn't a Chuunin but actually a highly trained higher ranking ninja just pretending to be a lower ranking one to throw people off.

....hmm....

Ahh well. He had a report to make, and some light reading to catch up on.

Feeling much better at that happy thought, the man in the mask poofed in to nothingness.

As though he had never been there.

* * *

back in the silent boys room, Shikamaru frowned, then twitched into wakefulness. Something, had woken him up. Glancing fuzzily around, he foggily recognized the usual toys and things. Finding nothing wrong he look over at his sleeping friend. His frown deepened into an irritated scowl.

Grunting softly to himself, the half awake boy scooted closer to his Naru-chan, nudging his heavy head back on to his should and pulling his limp arm back over his chest, letting out a gusty sigh before nodding back off.

Really, how was he expected to sleep without being clinged to?


	9. tiny tofu patch and embroidered duck

_"Tooryanse! Tooryanse!"_

It was December in the Land of Fire. Fall had came and went dressing the village in Autumn reds, bronzes, yellows and golds; shrouding the surrounding woodlands in a beautiful kimono of color.

_"Koko ha doko no hosomichi ja?_

_Tenjin-sama no hosomichi ja_

_Chotto tooshite kudashanse!"_

But the changing season did not last long; and before the wonders of giant leaf piles and the awe of the changing hues could be fully appreciated it was time to bid a reluctant farewell and give an abrupt welcome to winter.

_"Goyou nai mono toosha senu!"_

Winter, for the Village Hidden in the Leaves, meant one thing: rain. The country was too mild to support any kind of snowfall, and they had no true mountains. So instead of frosted windows and rolling hills of sparkling snow, the people had to content themselves with foggy panes of glass, rails glistening with condensation, and muddy training grounds or 'mud slides' as the youth of Konoha fondly called them and the bain of washing machines as all the mothers of Konoha called them. It was all a matter of perspective. And while the children enjoyed sliding down water-bogged hills there was always the whine for white, powdery snow. Which many of the seasoned shinobi were quick to assure them they weren't missing anything, and that it was _highly _overrated. YOU spend a month of reconnaissance in the Land of Snow and then see how you feel about it.

_"Konokono nanastu no oiwai ni_

_O fuda wo osame ni mairimasu!"_

Never the less, the people of Konoha acknowledged the new season with a bow of the head, and then went on with their lives. And today, was like any other day for the young Uzumaki family.

Well, almost.

_"Ikiha yoi yoi kaeriha kowai_

_Kowai nagara mo tooryanse, tooryanse!"_

Naruto and Kaito swiftly brought their clasped hands down, trapping a raincoat covered Shikamaru between their joined arms. Though to be fair to the young Nara, he hadn't been trying not get caught. And they were all wearing stupid raincoats so there. Neh.

Today was one of the rare, truly dry and windless days of winter, and Uzumaki age-four-as-of-October Naruto had been begging for weeks to please, please, PLEASE go _outside_ and play with his friends _outside_ and go to the park which happened to be, you know, _outside_. Chizuru, feeling bad for her blond little boy, had called Yoshino and spoken to Natsuki, Momaru and Kaito's mother, at the hospital during one of their shifts. The two other women had readily agreed that as soon as the first dry day came, there would be a play date.

This was the first time the Nara matriarch and Chizuru's co-worker had met, though the two had heard much about the other through the younger girl, and the two women had hit it off wonderfully. Though there had been a moment of puzzlement for Yoshino at the moment of meeting, once the med-nin's sons had been introduced she had understood.

Natsuki was Hyuuga.

Hyuuga did not work as nurses, or interacted with those outside the Clan, and they most definitely weren't single mothers living on there own outside the compound.

But once her two young sons had been introduced, the blind Momaru and mute Kaito, things became clear. Their dark gray eyes, unlike their mother's soft lilac ones, had told their story for them.

The three women sat comfortable on one of the many wooden benches that surrounded the play area, talking pleasantly and watching their boys enjoy themselves.

Yoshino made a disparaging sound in the back of her throat as her son was once again caught.

"That boy," she said in exasperation, adjusting her winter kimono, "I have no idea how he's going to become a shinobi with how lazy he is. He sleeps most of the day away."

Chizuru patted the dark-haired woman consolingly on the leg, "He'll grow out of it…eventually." She soothed, praying to Kami her words were true.

Natsuki nodded in agreement to her friend's words. " Kaito went through a no pants phase when he was two. He eventually grew out of it." She smoothed down her thick woolen skirt over her knees, and adjusted the collar of her thick beige coat. She was thankful that she had chosen to wear her fur line boots today. It was chilly.

"He better." Yoshino said darkly, "He's getting enrolled in the Academy next year and I don't need to sit through the torture of ridiculous clan dinners and afternoon tea's listening to the other mother's talk about how gifted their heirs are while they make subtle digs at mine."

Chizuru dug her fingers deeper into the insulated front pockets of her knee-length coat, wondering what all those clan heads would say about her son once he too was enrolled in the Academy.

"Clans rarely recognize greatness outside their own walls, Yoshino-san. Especially those who do not embody what they believe to be what a great shinobi should be, particularly the heir. Take what they say worth a grain of salt, if anything at all. Once your son becomes a great ninja, that's all the response you will need." Natsuki said wisely.

Yoshino stared at the four boys playing, unaware of the conversation at hand: her lazy Shika-kun in dark green raincoat and puddle jumpers; the twins, Momaru in dark blue with light blue edges, Kaito in the opposite; and little bright Naru-chan, swathed in a bright yellow rain coat with little ducks on the pockets and bright green froggy puddle jumpers the very image of childhood energy. All four boys were sore thumbs in their own ways. Especially Naruto, given his special circumstances. Momaru and Kaito would be another curiosity for the other students, a blind and mute Hyuuga. She guessed her son would have the easiest time out of all of them. Blinking, she turned to the purple haired medic nin.

"Will you be enrolling Kaito and Momaru in the Academy, Natsuki?" she asked, curious.

The other woman turned to her with a soft smile on her face.

"Yes. They too have expectations to overcome."

* * *

Some yards away the four were having a conversation of their own. Or as much of a conversation four four-year-olds, or four and a half for the twins, could have.

"Next year, Mamma says me and Kaito are going to the Acad'my too." Momaru said softly, his brother whistling in agreement.

"Really?!" Naruto said excitedly, "I'm going too! So's Shika-chan! Maybe we'll get to be in the same class! That'd be so cool!"

The four had stopped playing the game that the daycare lady had taught Naruto and the twins earlier in the week and were now contentedly sitting in the wet sand, digging and building in it.

"That way, we'll get to see each other EVERY day, and sit next to each other, and play and learn cool ninja stuff, and study together and be on the same team!" the blond ball of energy wheezed out.

"Ne, only three people on a team." Shikamaru reminded him blandly. He still wasn't really talking around the general population, but he felt Momaru and Kaito were ok since Naru-chan liked them well enough.

"Oh." The yellow-clad boy visibly deflated, not knowing how to fix the situation.

"We can still be friends even if we're not on the same team, right?" Momaru asked while Kaito nodded vigorously along.

Naruto perked right back up, "Yeah! We'll be friend's forever! No matter what team we're on! Right Shika-chan?"

The young Nara stared into hopeful bright blue eyes before nodding in agreement. It was useless to try fighting him anyways.

"Yes! So we'll be friends forever!"

And with that, the path they had chosen was laid out before them.

* * *

"Hey Kaa-chan?"

Chizuru looked up from where she was preparing that night's dinner, sukiyaki, one of Naruto's non ramen favorites.

"Yes?"

"When I go to the 'Cad'my, I'm still going to be your Naru-chan, right?"

The white-haired teen paused, setting the meat she was slicing aside, and fully looked at her nervous boy kneeling on one of the tall stools, little hand fidgeting on the bar. This must have really been bugging him.

"Of _course_ you're going to still be my Naru-chan. Naru-chan will always be my Naru-chan."

Naruto let out a relieved sigh at that and asked, "Promise?"

"I promise. You will only stop being my Naru-chan when you decide."

"Even when i go to school and an' become a big boy and a ninja?"

"Even then."

"Ok." He said, big smile spreading across his whiskered face.

Chizuru returned the smile before turning back to slicing meat. "Go get washed up and I'll let you help cut up the vegetables, ok?"

"ALRIGHT!"

She smirked as she heard the rush of little bare feet. He liked getting to use the knives. Yet another example of how he was destined to be a shinobi.

Or mass murderer.

The red-eyed teen paused for a moment in thought.

She shrugged.

Eh, same thing.

She tossed the last cuts of meat into the bowl and was arranging the vegetables when a familiar knock came from the entrance. Wiping her hands on a towel she went and opened it.

"Ohayo!"

She was greeted by the familiar sight of her one-eyed baby sitter.

"You got locked out again didn't you." She stated blandly.

"Ah…apparently my rent was due two weeks ago."

Rolling her pomegranate colored eyes she turned away and walked back into the kitchen.

"You just want the free food, you leach."

"Ne, Chizuru, what ever gave you that—"

"'Kashi-chan!!"

Whatever excuse the white-haired lazy Nin was going to make was cut off by a flying Naruto to the chest.

"Heya 'Kashi! Guess what we're having for dinner!"

"What?"

"Sukiyaki! With_out_ tofu. Bleh."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah! And I get to help cut the vegetables!"

"Not if you don't get over here you wont." The teen mom cut in.

"Wha? 'Kashi! Put me down, put me down, hurry!"

Winter was turning out to be a great season.

* * *

The song the kids were playing to is like Japan's version of London Bridge. It's called Pass Through Pass Through or Tooryanse. Natsuki, Momaru and Kaito's story will be told later. And, no, Kakashi and Chizuru do not hook up. EVER.


	10. a patch covered in clowns

"So, how are Kaito and Momaru settling in to preschool?" Chizuru asked, hefting a generous portion of vegi yakisoba to her mouth.

Across from her at the hospital cafeteria table they shared, Natsuki looked up from her own bento of leftover chicken katsu and fried rice.

"Well. The hours are about the same as daytime daycare here, and all of the mother's I've spoken to seem to highly recommend it. Though the boys are having a hard time starting out with new children. I had to promise them that they would still get to go to the daycare during the nights and weekends I worked, not that they have much of a choice in that." She said with an amused smirk.

Chizuru didn't know how the older Hyuuga balanced out her life. With a demanding job as one of the mid-level nurses and two young boys to pay for it had to be hard. Especially since she was doing it completely on her own. The Hyuuga clan did not support their disowned members. No matter what side of the tree they came from.

"And have you decided to keep Naru-chan home until he enrolls in the Academy next year?"

"Yes. It would be difficult to find a preschool that would accept him. And I wouldn't want the one that did to lose clients due to his enrollment. I can teach him everything he'll need to know until next year and the Hokage has a tight leash on the Academy. He wants Naruto to succeed as much as I do." Chizuru finished with a shrug

Natsuki nodded silently in agreement with her words before speaking again, "He is a smart boy who's willing to push himself to be his best if someone gives him the chance. He'll be fine. So," she said leaning forward, "Tell me about this Kakashi boy I've been hearing about."

The white haired teen rolled her red eyes, "He's a friend. Sort of. I guess. He's a social retard who reads way too much porn and baby sat Naruto while the daycare was being renovated. He's kind of stuck around. He likes to stop by for free meals and randomly pop up when we're out and about. I think he's been on a mission for a couple days. Other than that? There's nothing to tell."

"So Yoshino was just insinuating…?"

"To insinuate. Yep."

"So…this Kakashi…"

The younger girl stared at her shy friend with a raised brow, "Is not my type."

"Ah."

"Mmhm."

They continued to eat their lunch in silence, the Hyuuga's face slightly tinged red.

* * *

Chizuru entered the examination room; thoughts of having a serious talk with her other meddling friend. The one that happened to be married. She was so engrossed in that process that she didn't even notice the patient sitting mostly naked in a hospital gown on the narrow examination bed.

"Must be my lucky day."

Surprised, the young med-nin glanced at the man who was to be her first afternoon patient and felt like cursing out loud.

That stupid bitch fate was at it again.

Shiranui Genma sat, legs spread, gown barely keeping him decent, a shit eaters grin on his tan face.

Kami must hate her.

"Chuunin Shiranui Genma, what brings you to the hospital today?" she asked coolly.

* * *

Genma could not believe his luck. Ever since their first meeting he'd been trying to learn more about her from his currently absent friend Kakashi but the bastard'd been tight lipped on the subject. But beautiful, beautiful fate had decided to shine down on him today. His red-eyed goddess was now standing before him, preparing to run her delectable little hands all over his body.

"I couldn't resist the urge to see you anymore. So I bribed my way into you schedule." He said in answer to her inquiry, laying the charm on thick. Hot little nee-chan's like her dug that kind of stuff.

In response, she raised one frigid eyebrow, the only indication being the two dot markings on her forehead before looking down at the chart in her hands.

"Oh? It says here that you are due for your bi-annual mandatory physical and vaccine update."

Genma decided that he was going to consider her prissy little voice and dismissive manner as a turn on.

"All part of the master plan sweetness."

He took her answering snort as a challenge.

"So!" he said, clapping and rubbing his hands together, "What's on the menu? A little sake, some appetizers, and a nice little meal for two?"

Chizuru, ignoring his words, set the chart down on a pristine white counter then moved to scrub up and proceeded to don a pair of surgical gloves.

"I was thinking of completing your physical examination, Shiranui-san."

"Wow, there sweetness. Shiranui-san was my old man. Call me Genma." _Preferably while flat on your back with your legs in the air, and on repeat_, he added in his mind.

"I'd rather not," she said as she made her way over to him.

"Playing hard to get, I like that." He said flirtatiously.

"Focus, Shiranui-san."

Genma sighed dramatically before putting his hands behind his head, "All right. Have your wicked way with me."

Though her surgical gloves felt a little cold against his bare skin, they got through the exam with minimal damage done on Genma's part, and only the muttered defensive comment of, "It's a little chilly in here" when it came to the turn your head and cough portion.

Chizuru wisely kept her opinion to herself, but her silence might as well have spoken for her.

The senbon chewing shinobi quietly ogled her nicely rounded bottom and shapely calves and what little thigh he could see as she made some notes on his chart.

"So, what next? I feel, since you got to take such advantage of my body, that you owe me an evening out," Genma said jovially, "Nothing too extravagant mind you. A nice meal, maybe some good wine –we'd be going dutch of course— and then we'd head back to my place for a great dessert where I could show you my extensive weapons collection and, of course, you could make a more thorough examination of my—"

"Actually, Shiranui-san," Genma blinked at the interruption, "it seems you are not up to date on your shots." Chizuru continued with a pleasant voice.

"Come again?" he asked.

The young med-nin turned to him with a somewhat frightening smile placed on her lips.

"It appears you are over-due for many immunizations."

Genma did not like the sudden turn of events unfolding before him. He was up for being physically examined by a hot kunoichi anytime. And there was no denying that he, like any other hot-blooded male, liked to play doctor with any said hot kunoichi, but SHOTS? That was a completely different story.

The bandana wearing nin was snapped out of his inner monologue by the giant ass needle she pulled out from fuck nowhere and proceeded to fill it with some sort of clear liquid.

"Now, hot pants, I don't think—"

"Let's start with tetanus shall we?"

At the sight of the soft smile she aimed at him, he felt Little Genma shrink further up in his body.

Oh dear Kami.

* * *

It was around two in the afternoon when Kakashi stepped through the battered door to the sake house many of Konoha's nin seemed to inhabit at all the various times of the day. As he was just returning from a successful mission, which really, what ELSE did they expect when they handed him the scroll, and he felt like catching up with the people he'd grudgingly term friends.

As was expected, Asuma and Gai were sitting in their designated booth talking amicably. Well, Gai was talking, Asuma was just sitting there staring dazedly ahead of himself, a cigarette dangling between his lips.

"AH! KAKASHI MY FRIEND! YOU HAVE RETURNED FROM YOUR MISSION LOOKING MOST YOUTHFUL!"

Kakashi slid onto the bench next to Asuma and gave Gai a look. He was a teenager, how the hell else was he supposed to look?

"Easy mission?" Asuma asked, both ignoring the spandex wearing douche across from them.

"Aa." The silver-haired nin replied. That was, if you counted slaughtering twelve rouge shinobi easy, which he, as the all mighty ANBU he was, did.

But no need to brag around his friends. They of course, knew just how amazingly amazing he was already.

Placing his order, he turned his attention back to his comrades, "Where's Genma?"

"HE IS GETTING A MOST WONDEROUS BI-ANNUAL PHYISICAL!"

"…thanks Gai."

Asuma tapped his calloused fingers on the worn, rough, wood table and let out a stream of smoke from his nose. As of a year ago, after returning from his stint with the monks, he and his pack of smokes had been inseparable. When asked why by a curious Genma, he had simply smirked and replied that chicks dug it.

"He should be here any moment. Doesn't take that long."

Just then the bell above the door gave a weak jingle as it was opened and in limped the Chuunin currently under discussion.

The three men stared as he shuffled his way through the crowed, flinching every time someone patted his arms in greeting before finally making it over to there table and sitting gingerly down next to Gai.

"What the fuck happened to you?" Asuma asked, "Fight a hoard of missing nin on the way here?"

"Damn red-eyed she-demon from hell stuck a damn needle in my ass."

The three just stared blankly at him for a moment before Kakashi said, "Kurenai stuck a needle in your ass."

"I could see that." Asuma said.

Genma shot the two across from him a look of disgust. "Not that red-eyed she-demon. The hot piece of ass, who has currently lost some of her appeal at the moment, that lives in your apartment building Hatake." He growled out.

"Chizuru poked you in the ass with a needle?" the silver-haired nin asked, eye slightly widening in amusement.

Asuma managed to get in the request of "Who?" before Gai barreled into the conversation.

"YOU HAD THE GREAT HONOR OF BEING SERVED BY CHIZURU-SAN?"

The three men eyed the bowl-haired teen at the table.

"Yeah, what's it to ya? And don't look so damn amused Hatake. She stuck me _three_ times in the ass and two in each arm on so immunization excuse. She so digs me."

"KAKASHI! _HOW_ DO YOU KNOW THIS LOVELY FLOWER OF YOUTHFUL GRACE AND BEAUTY?"

Kakashi stared at him blankly.

"Who?"

"CHIZURU-SAN!"

"Will someone tell me who we are discussing."

Kakashi sighed as the image of his relaxing afternoon blew away.

"My neighbor. She's a med-nin at the shinobi hospital and happens to have red eyes. She's not one of Genma's best fans."

"The nee-chan's just playing hard to get."

"Never-mind that, how the hell do I not know about another red-eyed kunoichi in the village and why does Gai seem to know her." Asuma asked, irritated by these facts. As a fellow lazy ninja, he felt he had more right to be in on Kakashi's neighbor at least more than Gai.

"Genma's a nosy bastard who can't keep himself out of other peoples business because he has no life of his own—"

"I resent that remark."

"—and I have no idea how Gai knows about her."

The three nin's turned to the shockingly silent Maito Gai for answers. He did not disappoint.

"I HAD THE GREAT AND WONDEROUS HONOR OF BEING EXAMINED BY THE LOVELY CHIZURU-SAN AS WELL. HER BEAUTIFUL EYES AND LUSTOROUS HAIR SWAYED MY HEART!" here the bushy browed man stopped and a look of great sadness passed over his face, "But sadly, Chizuru-san turned down my advances too."

"…Did he just say he asked her out and she said no?" Asuma asked blandly.

"Aa….I think."

At this Genma frowned, "Hey man, no poaching! I saw that sexy piece of ass first." This comment led to a heated debate between the two over who had first dibs.

Asuma looked over at the younger teen next to him in amusement, "So tell me about this mysterious woman who has stolen the heart of Gai and the lust of Genma."

The last Hatake snorted into his sake, "She's a girl, not a woman. And she happens to be a med-nin who is also a mom."

"Wow. Must be some hot mama-san to have caught Genma's interest."

"She's fourteen. Actually, she's now fifteen, if I remember her birthday right. Eh, I was never too good at knowing these things." He was a shinobi, damnit. Ninja's didn't have souls let alone birthdays.

At his comment, the squabble across the table seemed to freeze, as a light bulb in Gai's thick head seem to turn on.

"KAKASHI! _YOU KNOW_ MY SWEET CHIZURU-SAN? HOW COULD YOU, MY ETERNAL RIVAL, NOT TELL ME!"

The table grew silent as they waited for an answer.

"….Tell you what?"

"Oh com'on man!" Genma cried, "Give us _something_ we can use to get into her pants, er, heart. Yeah her heart."

Once again, Kakashi sighed, "She's a mom. And a med-nin. Other than that, she doesn't seem to have time for anything else than _being_ a mom and a med-nin."

Asuma, playing devil's advocate, couldn't help but stir the pot, "She seems to be making time for you, Hatake."

The silver-haired nin rolled his eye, "I have dinner over there some nights. I baby-sit Naruto when she needs it, which isn't often. I would loosely consider us friends. _Without_ benefits."

_And I happen to be in charge of surveillance on them for the Hokage._ He mentally added.

"You sure you don't want to double date with me an Kurenai sometime?"

"Positive."

"Alright then."

The table was once again filled with the meaningless talk that the four spent hours going on about every week.

* * *

Later that afternoon found Kakashi walking in on one of Naruto's beginning shinobi lessons being taught by the med-nin that his earlier conversation had revolved around. It seemed today's subject was beginning math; something the little blond seemed to have a surprising nack for.

"Kashi! You're back!"

He seemed to have been spotted.

"Yo," with a hand raised in greeting he entered the living room where the mother and son sat.

Chizuru set down the math work book before it got knocked onto the floor by an enthusiastic Naruto. "Welcome back Kakashi."

"You're back! Did ja kill lotsa bad ninjas?"

Kakashi crouched down and patted the small boy on his golden head, "Aa. Lots."

The little Uzumaki's already big eyes grew bigger in amazement, "Cooool!"

The masked nin rose back to his feet and looked at Chizuru in amusement.

"I heard that you had Genma as a patient."

Here the younger girl both grimaced and smirked. "He needed the required over due shots. Plus there were a few that were going to be up in a few weeks anyways."

"And Gai?"

At the mention of Konoha's most exuberant Shinobi, a tremor seemed to run through her lithe body and a tick develop in one fine eyebrow.

"Lets not discuss that."

"Well, considering the good you have done for society, by way of making it so Genma wont be sitting comfortable for a day or so, I believe dinner at Ichiraku's is in order."

"Ramen!" at that impassioned war cry, Naruto rushed to put on his brand new orange sandals. His feet had recently gone through a small growth sprit.

"It also helps that you got the free meal coupons in the mail too right?"

Kakashi gave his patented eye smile, "It might."

"Com'on kaa-chan! Let's go, all the good seats might get taken!"

"I highly doubt that Naru-chan."

As Kakashi and the little family of two made their way out of the cheerful apartment, he studied the white-haired girl next to him, feeling himself out. True, he did feel a connection to her, but in the same way he felt for his late sensei, and Obito, but with none of that awkwardness he had with Rin. Almost….familial.

Yes, they were definitely friends.

_Without _benefits.

* * *

i dont think i need to tell you who the clowns are


End file.
